Discovery of North America’s oldest pterosaur

AT A remote bone bed in Arizona, dense with fossils dating back around 209 million years, a Smithsonian-led team of researchers has discovered North America’s oldest known pterosaur, according to a news release.

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Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to develop powered flight, soaring above dinosaurs and other surreal creatures that called the prehistoric world home. The finding, detailed in an article in PNAS published Monday, offers clues to the evolution of the winged reptiles, which have more than 150 named species, including the Hollywood favourite — the pterodactyl.

Before the study, there were only two known Triassic pterosaurs from North America, Ben Kligman, a paleontologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and an author on the study, said in an email. This is the only early pterosaur globally whose precise age has been determined — information that is crucial to understanding “how a fossil animal fits into patterns of evolutionary and environmental change,” he said.

Suzanne McIntire, formerly a volunteer with the museum, unearthed the fossil. “What was exciting about uncovering this specimen was that the teeth were still in the bone, so I knew the animal would be much easier to identify,” she said in a statement.