US team discovers winged reptile that took powered flight with early dinosaurs
While looking for prehistoric precursors to mammals in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, a Smithsonian-led team of researchers stumbled upon an unexpected site: a remote bonebed that contained an entire Triassic ecosystem.
Along with 1,200 individual fossils, they recovered a new pterosaur species that lived 209 million years ago. The recently identified Eotephradactylus mcintireae is the oldest pterosaur ever found in North America. Its teeth, preserved in the bone, gave paleontologists stunning insights into how the earliest pterosaurs lived.
Oldest pterosaur in North America was about the size of a seagull
Eotephradactylus mcintireae would have been small enough to perch on person's shoulder comfortably. It might not be be the largest pterosaur on record, but its impact might extend far beyond any discovered before it as the most ancient in North America.
Its name, 'ash-winged dawn goddess,' refers to the site's volcanic ash, the animals' position near the base of the pterosaur evolutionary tree, and the woman who unearthed it. Suzanne McIntire knew the tooth-studded jaw would make the animal easier to identify.
As the teeth were worn down, the team deduced the pterosaur likely fed on the site's fish, as they found many in the fossil bed encased in armor-like scales. In fact, the team led by paleontologist Ben Kligman found so much more than the world's oldest pterosaur on site.
After braving the Petrified Forest's rugged badlands, home to rattlesnakes and wild horses, they uncovered a bonebed that gave them a vivid snapshot of the dynamic ecosystem, including giant amphibians, armored crocodile relatives, evolutionary upstarts like frogs, and even the world's oldest turtle fossils.
'The site captures the transition to more modern terrestrial vertebrate communities where we start seeing groups that thrive later in the Mesozoic living alongside these older animals that don't make it past the Triassic,' Kligman said. 'Fossil beds like these enable us to establish that all of these animals actually lived together.'
A snapshot of end-Triassic extinction
The new site filled a gap in the fossil record: the end-Triassic extinction (ETE).
Around 201.5 million years ago, volcanic eruptions broke Pangaea and wiped out 75% of the planet's species, making way for the dinosaurs to rise and dominate the Earth. This new bonebed captured this critical moment in the planet's evolution. This pterosaur would have been among the first to take flight in history.
Though incredibly old, these rocks on Owl Rock Member, the park's geologic outcrops, are the youngest in the park. They are the least studied as they lurk in the park's most remote areas, but they might contain new species. The fossil bed Smithsonian researchers just uncovered did.
They believe a flood had most likely buried the creatures, as so many fossils were packed into the site. Excavating it was practically impossible. They encased large pieces of the surrounding sediment in plaster and brought them back to the lab, according to the press release.
In total, the team picked up more than a thousand individual fossils of bones, teeth, fish scales, and coprolites, or fossilized poop. In all, this impressive assemblage contained 16 different groups of vertebrate animals.
The pterosaur would have flown over a rich and diverse ecosystem of braided rivers filled with fish like freshwater sharks, coelacanths, and ancient amphibians, some of which grew up to 6 feet long.
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
4 minutes ago
- New York Post
Smithsonian exhibit monkeys around with the scientific evidence on human origins
The Trump Administration recently called out the Smithsonian Institution for pushing 'one-sided, divisive political narratives,' leading GOP Sen. Jim Banks last week to introduce a bill prohibiting the Smithsonian from promoting woke ideology, as The Post exclusively reported. But American history isn't the only domain in which the Smithsonian, with an ideological ax to grind, advances misinformation. The National Museum of Natural History's Hall of Human Origins vastly distorts the scientific evidence on human evolution, seeking to convince visitors that there's nothing special about us as human beings. 'There is only about a 1.2% genetic difference between modern humans and chimpanzees,' the exhibit starts, with large photos of a human and apes. 'You and chimpanzees [are] 98.8% genetically similar.' 6 The Trump Administration recently called out the Smithsonian Institution for pushing 'one-sided, divisive political narratives.' Shutterstock / Paulm1993 No doubt you've heard this statistic before because many science popularizers say the same thing. Yet it's been known for years that these numbers are inaccurate. Thanks to a groundbreaking April paper in the journal Nature, we know just how wrong they are. For the first time, the paper reports 'complete' sequences of the genomes of chimpanzees and other apes done from scratch. When we compare them to humans, we find our genomes are more like 15% genetically different from chimpanzees'. That means the true genetic differences between humans and chimps are more than 10 times greater than what the Smithsonian tells us. The museum distorts human origins in other areas, too. Again, the purpose is to diminish the exceptional place of humans in nature. 6 The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins exhibit is seen at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington. AP The museum's Human Origins fossil hall claims the ancient species Sahelanthropus tchadensis was an 'early human' that walked 'on two legs.' But leading paleoanthropologists sharply dispute this claim. A Nature article found that 'Sahelanthropus was an ape,' and many features 'link the specimen with chimpanzees, gorillas or both, to the exclusion of hominids.' A 2020 Journal of Human Evolution paper showed that Sahelanthropus' femur was like that of a chimp-like quadruped — in other words, it didn't walk upright, and it wasn't a human ancestor. 6 The Smithsonian exhibit presents ape-like australopithecines as 'early humans' who walked upright 'on the ground' much like us, but many scientists don't agree with this characterization, according to reports. Courtesy of Casey Luskin Similarly, the Human Origins exhibit presents the ape-like australopithecines as 'early humans' who walked upright 'on the ground' much like us. Some paleoanthropologists agree. But other scientists strongly disagree, pointing out that some australopithecines showed evidence of ape-like knuckle-walking and only limited capacity for running. Their upright-walking ability was likely best suited for walking along tree limbs, not 'on the ground' exactly like we do. Large questions remain about how they walked, and the Smithsonian gives no hint of the scientific controversy. 6 The museum had a display of *Australopithecus africanus* bust in 2010. Courtesy of Casey Luskin The museum's hominid reconstructions also humanize apes while ape-ifying humans. Australopithecus afarensis (the iconic 'Lucy') is portrayed thoughtfully gazing up at the sky, while Australopithecus africanus is presented smiling, perhaps at a friend's wry remark. Yet australopithecines had brains about the size of a chimp's, and there's no fossil evidence they were capable of abstract thought — or humor. We should remember the famed Harvard anthropologist Earnest Hooton's declaration that 'alleged restorations of ancient types of man have very little, if any, scientific value and are likely only to mislead the public.' 6 The exhibit asserts that humans and chimpanzees are '98.8% genetically similar,' but recently published research found our genomes are more like 15% different from chimpanzees. Courtesy of Casey Luskin The Smithsonian's exhibit also gives scientifically misleading support to the idea humans evolved slowly — saying 'we became human gradually,' much as Darwin imagined, from 'earlier primates.' Again, the result is to blur distinctions between us and other creatures. Yet the great Harvard evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr acknowledged there is a 'large, unbridged gap' in the fossil record between the australopithecines and the first humanlike members of our genus, Homo. In his words, we're in a position of 'not having any fossils that can serve as missing links.' One scientific commentator even said this evidence calls for a 'big bang theory of human evolution.' Why doesn't the Smithsonian disclose any of this information? 6 July marks the 100th anniversary of the Scopes 'monkey' trial. AP This month is the centennial of the Scopes 'monkey' trial, remembered as a warning against hiding scientific information about human evolution. How ironic that 100 years later, the nation's premier science museum obscures scientifically objective data on the very same subject. To fail to correct this exhibit is to use taxpayer money to miseducate the public about a question of profound scientific, sociological, and philosophical importance. Casey Luskin is the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture's associate director and co-author of the book 'Science and Human Origins.' He holds a geology Ph.D. from the University of Johannesburg.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
2 summer meteor showers peak soon. When is the best time to see Perseid in Mississippi?
If you haven't caught a glimpse of a shooting star yet in July, it's not too late. In fact, the best nights to see the most are happening soon. There are three meteor showers visible over Mississippi now, and the showy fireballs and falling stars will continue until late August. Two of the celestial shows will peak about the same time in late July, but you'll still have weeks to stargaze and catch a peek. The Perseid is the most famous. It runs from about July 17 to Aug. 23, according to the American Meteor Society. The alpha Capricornids are in progress, according to the American Meteor Society, and will be active through about Aug. 12. The Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower will be visible from July 18 through about Aug. 12 as well. Here's what to know about the best times to see shooting stars and places in Mississippi where the night sky will be darkest. When is the best time of night to see Perseid, more meteors in July and early August? All three meteor showers can be visible from evening through dawn, meaning you don't have to stay up super late for this stargazing. You just might not get the best views earlier in the evening. AMS says the best time to see any meteor shower is between midnight and dawn. According to NASA, the Perseids can be seen as early as 10 p.m. It's still summer in Mississippi, so plan ahead if you're spending a lot of time outdoors to watch the sky. Plan for heat and mosquitoes. Nights are cooler but still humid, which can make it hard for sweat to evaporate. Sweating more leads to dehydration faster, so be sure to bring plenty of water and maybe some bug repellent. What is each meteor shower known for? The Perseids are one of the most popular annual astronomical events. They're active for several weeks and can treat viewers to about 50-75 meteors per hour, according to AMS. The moon will likely be bright during the peak evenings in 2025, so only the brightest meteors will be seen. It could reduce visibility by as much as 75%. According to EarthSky, the maximum hourly rate can be about 15-20 visible meteors in a dark sky for the Delta Aquariid. These can be faint and hard to see. The alpha Capricornids have fewer meteors, but they're showier. This shower is known for fireballs, but you might only see about five per hour, according to the Meteor Society. What are the peak nights to see shooting stars in July and August? The American Meteor Society estimates the peak periods will be around July 29-30 for the Delta Aquarids and alpha Capricornids. The Perseids will peak around Aug. 12-13. The new moon was on July 24, making the dark nights before and after the clearest for sky watchers. But other nights, other than around the full moon, will still offer visibility, weather permitting. When is the August full moon? The worst nights for viewing meteor showers will be in the days surrounding the full moon. The full moon in August, called the "Sturgeon Moon," will be on Aug. 9, 2025. Peak illumination will be 2:55 a.m. CT, according to Farmer's Almanac. Moonrise in Jackson will be a 7:48 p.m. CT, on Aug. 8, according to That'll be shortly after sunset around 7:51 p.m. Where are the best dark sky places in Mississippi? Find a great spot to see the night sky Go Astronomy lists some of the best places for seeing the night sky without light pollution in Mississippi. Places that have a Bortle dark-sky scale score are provided. The nine-tier system ranks a three as a rural night sky and a one as an excellent dark sky. Bienville National Forest: Bortle score - 3. Clark Creek Natural Area: Bortle score - 3. De Soto National Forest. Delta National Forest. French Camp. Holly Springs National Forest. Holmes County State Park: Bortle score - 3. Homochitto National Forest: Bortle score - 3. Leroy Percy State Park: Bortle score - 3. Tishomingo State Park: Bortle score - 3. Tombigbee National Forest. The Natchez Trace Parkway has designated stargazing spots from sunrise until 10 p.m.: Big Tree Overlook, milepost 439.4. Little Mountain Exhibit Shelter, milepost 193.1. Reservoir Overlook, milepost 105.6. Are a meteor and a comet the same thing? No. They're different, but they can be related. A comet is an icy ball of rock, frozen gas and dust that orbits the sun. According to NASA, they can be "the size of a small town." As they get near to the sun, comets develop a head that's bigger than some planets made of dust and gas. The resulting tail can be millions of miles long. Meteors, sometimes called shooting stars, are little pieces of debris that we see burn up as they enter the Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA. "Every Perseid meteor is a tiny piece of the comet Swift-Tuttle, which swings by the Sun every 135 years," NASA wrote. Before it enters the atmosphere and is still in space, the rock is called a meteoroid. A meteorite is the part of the meteor that survives the trip and hits the ground. Space Connect reporter Eric Lagatta contributed to this report. Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with Gannett/USA Today. Email her at bbolden@ This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Summer meteor showers peak soon: When, where to see Perseid, more in MS Solve the daily Crossword


Geek Tyrant
34 minutes ago
- Geek Tyrant
TRON: ARES Comic-Con Footage Delivers High-Speed Lightcycle Chases and Confirms a Major Plot Twist — GeekTyrant
If you weren't in Hall H at Comic-Con, you missed an electrifying look at Disney's upcoming sci-fi epic Tron: Ares . Exclusive footage shown at the panel put the spotlight on the kind of awesome action fans of the franchise are going to flip over, and there's confirmed a twist. The first clip kicked things off in the real world, where Ares (Jared Leto) and Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) have been pulled out of the Grid by Evan Peters' Dillinger, and sent on a mission to track down Eve Kim (Greta Lee). What follows is a thrilling heart-pounding highway chase featuring the franchise's iconic lightcycles slicing across asphalt with lethal energy trails. The pursuit barrels into a parking structure where Eve takes down Athena, steals her lightcycle, and tears off in a desperate escape, narrowly dodging Athena's attempts to stop her. The second scene takes us back into the Grid. Athena launches a massive drone to chase Eve, but the surprise comes when Ares intervenes, not to eliminate Eve, but to protect her. This moment confirms what the marketing has been teasing for months… Ares, the program designed as a digital assassin, is about to turn against his creators. It sets the stage for a really cool and interesting story. Disney's official synopsis for the film reads: 'Tron: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind's first encounter with A.I. beings.' Directed by Joachim Rønning, the film boasts a loaded cast that includes Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, Gillian Anderson, and the legendary Jeff Bridges. Tron: Ares is the third chapter in the franchise, following 1982's groundbreaking original and the visually stunning 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy. Prepare to return to the Grid and beyond when Tron: Ares hits theaters on October 10.