See every side of every news story
Published loading...Updated

North 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.
Insights by Ground AI
Does this summary seem wrong?

39 Articles

All
Left
7
Center
11
Right
3
Left

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.

Read Full Article
Think freely.Subscribe and get full access to Ground NewsSubscriptions start at $9.99/yearSubscribe

Bias Distribution

  • 52% of the sources are Center
52% Center
Factuality

To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium

Ownership

To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage

Newsweek broke the news in United States on Monday, July 7, 2025.
Sources are mostly out of (0)