The oldest specimen of Pterodactylus, the “monster bird” that helped the world know about the existence of pterosaurs in 1784, has just been found in a quarry in Germany.
According to SciTech Daily, the specimen that has just been found is a complete skeleton, which is very well preserved despite an extremely long time of 152 million years.
The terrifying creature was found in 2014, but it took a long time for archaeologists to meticulously excavate to preserve the fragile body that nature has accidentally preserved.
Close-up of intact “monster bird” fossil has just been found in Germany – Photo: Fossil Record
The strange bird was studied in detail by researchers Felix Augustin, Andreas Matzke, Panagiotis Kampouridis and Josephina Hartung from the University of Tübingen and aimund Albersdörfer from the Altmühltal Dinosaur Museum (Germany). So far they have been able to determine its identity as well as its date.
Pterodactylus is considered by paleontologists to be the “monster of history” because it was the first group of pterosaurs (also known as winged lizards or winged lizards, or pterosaurs) to be identified in the world.
It was first described by naturalist Cosimo Alessandro Collini in 1784 as an aquatic creature but later redefined by French naturalist George Cuvier as a new group of flying reptiles.
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It was found near Painten, a small town in the German state of Bavaria that is famous for its pterosaur fossils. Bavaria was also the “homeland” of the pterosaur in 1784. The specimen is even more valuable because at 152 million years old, it becomes the oldest Pterodactylus found in the world.
“The rock of the quarry, which revealed the new specimen of Pterodactylus, consists of silicified limestone dating to about 152 million years ago. Previously Pterodactylus was only found in younger rocks in Southern Germany” – the said the author.
This intact specimen is missing only a very small portion of the left jawbone and left tibia. In addition, the entire bone remained in its anatomical position, as if it had landed and was “frozen” right in the ice.
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It was a small monster with a skull of only 5 cm, because Pterodactylus was one of the smallest groups of pterosaurs. This group of pterosaurs was very diverse in size, with the largest having a wingspan of up to 12 meters – four times the size of a large eagle.
Also because of its small size, an intact Pterodactylus fossil of this size, which has not been damaged by impacts over time, is extremely rare. Scientists are still studying this exquisite fossil detail in the hope of finding more valuable pieces for the picture of the most fearsome group of carnivorous monsters ever to fly in Earth’s sky.
The study has just been published in the scientific journal Fossil Record.
