By: Amelia Xiao

The fossilized bones of a new species of pterosaur were discovered in the Australian state, Queensland. Researchers say these bones are up to 100-million-years-old! Prehistoric flying reptiles with wings and beaks are called pterosaurs. They roamed the Earth about 225 to 65 million years ago.

This gigantic flying reptile lived among the dinosaurs and had a huge wingspan of at most 35 feet- that’s 10.65 meters! Apart from its huge wingspan, it also had a muscular tongue used to slurp its prey. This pterosaur, was a fish eater, had a strong tongue that helped it collect and swallow prey.

Researchers from Curtin University in Western Australia studied the fossils. They used the shape and arrangements of the fossil to identify the species as an anhanguerian- this group lived across the world in different places. Some of these places include the United States, China, Brazil, England, Morocco, and Spain!

This pterosaur’s found bones make up 22% of its overall frame. Compared to the other known pterosaur skeleton, it is twice as complete making it an incredible discovery!

Lead researcher from Curtin University says, “The specimen includes complete lower jaws, the tip of the upper jaw, 43 teeth, vertebrae, ribs, bones from both wings and part of a leg. Also present are very thin and delicate throat bones, indicating a muscular tongue, which helped during feeding on fish and cephalopods.” Wow! That’s a lot of bones! This discovery shows that the pterosaur species is more diverse than we expected. Hopefully we will find more fossils to learn about!