US EditionNorth America's Oldest Pterosaur Described from Arizona's Petrified Forest
PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK, ARIZONA, JUL 8 – The discovery of Eotephradactylus mcintireae sheds light on a late Triassic ecosystem where 16 vertebrate species lived alongside this small flying reptile, dated 209 million years old.
- In 2011, a team including paleontologist Ben Kligman uncovered the oldest pterosaur fossil found in North America at Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona.
- The fossil was preserved in a river-deposited bonebed dated about 209 million years ago, capturing an ecosystem before the end-Triassic extinction around 201 million years ago.
- The site yielded over 1,200 fossils, including the seagull-sized new pterosaur species Eotephradactylus mcintireae, which lived alongside frogs, turtles, giant amphibians, and armored crocodile relatives.
- Kligman emphasized the unexpected excitement in paleontology, explaining that researchers often begin searching for one discovery but end up uncovering something entirely surprising, underscoring the exceptional preservation of early pterosaur fossils at this site.
- The findings reveal a transitional vertebrate community with newer groups thriving alongside older animals disappearing after the Triassic, offering new insight into pre-extinction ecosystems.
39 Articles
39 Articles
Interesting discovery in the U.S. state of Arizona as a deposit has been found where the oldest known pterosaur in North America has been located. Specifically, the group of researchers who did work in the Petrified Forest National Park area found a fossil, the size of a gull, of a kind of winged reptile that lived alongside the dinosaurs 209 million years ago.
North america’s oldest pterosaur unearthed in Arizona’s Triassic time capsule
In the remote reaches of Arizona s Petrified Forest National Park, scientists have unearthed North America's oldest known pterosaur a small, gull-sized flier that once soared above Triassic ecosystems. This exciting find, alongside ancient turtles and armored amphibians, sheds light on a key moment in Earth's history when older animal groups overlapped with evolutionary newcomers. The remarkably preserved fossils, including over 1,200 specimens,…
Oldest Flying Reptile in North America Discovered in Arizona Fossil Bed
Speculative reconstruction of Eotephradactylus. Credit: Brian Engh / Public domain Scientists have identified a new species of flying reptile in Arizona that lived more than 200 million years ago, making it the oldest known of its kind ever discovered in North America. The fossil, a partial jawbone, was first found in 2011 in Petrified Forest National Park. Researchers at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History recently used advance…
North America Was Once Home to a Flying 'Goddess'
A delicate jawbone unearthed in Arizona has revealed North America's oldest known pterosaur, a flying reptile no bigger than a small seagull, and provided a rare glimpse into the continent's prehistoric skies. The fossil, initially mistaken for a mammal, was unearthed in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park in 2013 by...
Arizona fossil find reveals an ecosystem in flux
Scientists have unearthed in Arizona fossils from an assemblage of animals, including North America's oldest-known flying reptile, that reveal a time of transition when venerable lineages that were destined soon to vanish lived alongside newcomers early in the age of dinosaurs.
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