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Miami Herald
09-07-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Winged reptile so small it could perch on your shoulder identified from AZ fossil
A fossil from a seagull-sized winged reptile that lived millions of years ago was found in Arizona, and the creature has now been identified as a new species. The new type of pterosaur, named Eotephradactylus mcintireae, was identified by a Smithsonian-led research team, according to a July 7 news release from the institution. It's known as the 'ash-winged dawn goddess.' The creature 'would have been small enough to comfortably perch on a person's shoulder,' per Smithsonian officials. It also had 'a long jaw with several types of teeth for different purposes,' including curved fangs for grabbing prey and blade-like teeth for slicing it up, paleontologist Ben Kligman said in a July 8 email to McClatchy News. He said the pterosaur likely feasted on 'primitive fish related to living gar.' Researchers — including Kligman, a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History — documented the new species in a study published July 7 in the peer-reviewed journal PNAS, or Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. First occurrence The pterosaur's jawbone with teeth came from a remote area in northeastern Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park, Smithsonian officials said. The site also contained numerous other fossils from different creatures, including 'an ancient turtle with spike-like armor,' according to Smithsonian officials. 'These fossils, which date back to the late Triassic period around 209 million years ago, preserve a snapshot of a dynamic ecosystem where older groups of animals, including giant amphibians and armored crocodile relatives, lived alongside evolutionary upstarts like frogs, turtles and pterosaurs,' Smithsonian officials said. Kligman noted in his email that 'the presence of the pterosaur Eotephradactylus living and interacting in a community alongside groups like frogs, lizard relatives, and turtles is the first occurrence of this community type in the fossil record.' Those groups were found living together in later eras, he said, but not before a massive extinction event that killed about three-quarters of species on the planet about 201 million years ago. That 'means that the assembly of modern vertebrate communities was not the direct result of the end-Triassic extinction, and had been taking place well before it,' he said. Stands out During Eotephradactylus mcintireae's time, the fossil site area 'was positioned in the middle of Pangaea and sat just above the equator,' according to Smithsonian officials, who noted that 'the semi-arid environment was crisscrossed by small river channels and likely prone to seasonal floods' that sent ash and sediment into the channels. The creatures found in the site were likely buried in such a flood, Smithsonian officials said. The site was discovered several years ago, and the pterosaur jaw fossil was eventually uncovered by Suzanne McIntire, a longtime volunteer in the Smithsonian's FossiLab, Smithsonian officials said. The new species was named partly for her. The ash-winged dawn goddess is the oldest-known pterosaur in North America, according to Smithsonian officials. Kligman said 'a big part of why (it) stands out is that it was found fossilized in sediments deposited in a river. Most early pterosaurs are found in oceanic sediments. We hope that our (study's) recognition of pterosaurs from new environments of the Pangaean continent will help future researchers in the search for more of these rare fossils.' Kay Behrensmeyer from the Smithsonian and Robin Whatley from Columbia College Chicago were study co-leads. Other authors were Jahandar Ramezani, Adam D. Marsh, Tyler R. Lyson, Adam J. Fitch and William G. Parker.
Indian Express
09-07-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
Scientists discover 200-million-year-old flying reptile species
Nearly 200 million years ago, large flying reptile species or pterosaurs, used to fly above dinosaurs. Scientists discovered the jaw of a pterosaur in Arizona sometime in 2013; however, now they have ascertained that it is an entirely new species. They made this discovery with the help of modern scanning technology. The reptile species has been named as Eotephradactylus mcintireae which means 'ash-winged dawn goddess'. The volcanic ash is said to have preserved the reptile's bones on the ancient riverbed. The creature was named by a team of researchers from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Experts predict that the fossil of the pterosaur is 209 million years old and currently believe it to be the oldest pterosaur to be discovered in North America. The jaw of the pterosaur is just one part of the collection of fossils found in the archaeological site; the fossils include bones, teeth, fish scales, and even fossilised dung (which is known as coprolites). 'The bones of Triassic pterosaurs are small, thin, and often hollow, so they get destroyed before they get fossilised,' Dr Kligman told the BBC. The site area was a riverbed more than 200 million years ago; scales, bones, and other signs of life were progressively trapped and preserved by layers of sediment. To understand more about the creature, experts studied its teeth to narrow down what the seagull-sized reptile would have eaten during its existence. Dr Kligman told the publication that they have an unusually high degree of wear at their tips. This evidence shows that the creature was feeding on something with hard body parts. Their most likely prey were primitive fish that would have had hard scale armour covering them. The Triassic pterosaur was discovered in the desert landscape amid ancient rocks in the present day Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. Scientists say that the site where they found the creature's fossils had preserved the 'snapshot' of the ecosystem. They also found groups of animals that now are extinct. The other ancient creatures that they found include ancient armoured crocodile relatives and amphibians. And some creatures that can be recognised today, like frogs and turtles.
USA Today
09-07-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Pterosaur fossils discovered in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park
Tucked away in a remote bonebed in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park laid hundreds of fossils, including a fragile jawbone belonging to one of the oldest-known flying reptiles: the pterosaur. The discovery of the oldest flying vertebrate in North America by a group of researchers fills a gap in the fossil record proving that pterosaurs coexisted with frogs, turtles and older groups of animals like giant amphibians. The recently discovered fossils date back to the late Triassic period – about 209 million years ago, scientists said. The discovery of at least 16 vertebrate species includes seven previously unknown species. Paleontologist Ben Kligman of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History led the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Kligman told USA TODAY the initial motivation of this field work was to find layers of rock that might preserve early mammal fossils. "As so often happens in the field of paleontology: you go looking for one thing and you find something totally different." said Kligman. These fossils, which date back to the late Triassic period, provide a snapshot in time of a once dynamic ecosystem of different species living together. The fossil site is also key for understanding the evolutionary origins of both turtles and pterosaurs, Kligman added. "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," according to Kligman. Where was the pterosaur discovered? The Petrified Forest National Park in Northeast Arizona is known for producing fossils of plants and animals from the Triassic time period, Reuters reported. Remains of the pterosaur along with primitive frogs, lizard-like reptiles and one of the oldest-known turtles were all discovered in the national park. Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve powered flight, followed much later by birds and bats, Reuters reported. The oldest-known fossils of these seagull-sized reptiles were found in Europe and date back to around 215 million years, researchers said. But pterosaurs are thought to have appeared even further back – roughly 230 million years ago, around the same time as the earliest dinosaurs. The newly identified pterosaur – Eotephradactylus mcintire – is named after Suzanne McIntire, who discovered the fossil after it has been brought to Smithsonian's FossiLab along with 1,200 other individual fossils. "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," McIntire said in a statement. The name means 'ash-winged dawn goddess,' and refers to the fossil site's volcanic ash and the animals' position near the base of the pterosaur evolutionary tree, according to a statement from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The Triassic era came on the heels of Earth's biggest mass extinction 252 million years ago, and then ended with another mass extinction 201 million years ago that wiped out many of the major competitors to the dinosaurs, according to Reuters. While frogs and turtles are still around today, pterosaurs dominated the skies until the asteroid impact 66 million years ago that ended the age of dinosaurs, Reuters reported. How large was the pterosaur? The pterosaur's wingspan was about three feet and its skull was about four inches long. It had curved fangs at the front of its mouth for grabbing fish as it flew over rivers, and blade-like teeth in the back of the jaw for slicing prey, Reuters reported. The researchers said Eotephradactylus would have had a tail, as all the early pterosaurs did. Contributing: Will Dunham, Reuters
India Today
08-07-2025
- Science
- India Today
Scientists unearth rare assembly of ancient animals, 7 of them unknown to science
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 remains of the pterosaur, roughly the size of a small seagull, and the other creatures were discovered in Petrified Forest National Park, a place famous for producing fossils of plants and animals from the Triassic Period including huge tree trunks. The newly found fossils are 209 million years old and include at least 16 vertebrate species, seven of them previously Triassic came on the heels of Earth's biggest mass extinction 252 million years ago, and then ended with another mass extinction 201 million years ago that wiped out many of the major competitors to the dinosaurs, which achieved unquestioned supremacy in the subsequent Jurassic period. Both calamities apparently were caused by extreme volcanism. The fossils, entombed in rock rich with volcanic ash, provide a snapshot of a thriving tropical ecosystem crisscrossed by rivers on the southern edge of a large desert. The fossils, entombed in rock rich with volcanic ash, provide a snapshot of a thriving tropical ecosystem. (Photo: Getty) Along with the pterosaur were other new arrivals on the scene including primitive frogs, lizard-like reptiles and one of the earliest-known turtles - all of them resembling their relatives alive today. This ecosystem's largest meat-eaters and plant-eaters were part of reptile lineages that were flourishing at the time but died out relatively soon the Triassic ushered in the age of dinosaurs, no dinosaurs were found in this ecosystem, illustrating how they had not yet become dominant."Although dinosaurs are found in contemporaneous rocks from Arizona and New Mexico, they were not part of this ecosystem that we are studying," said paleontologist Ben Kligman of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, who led the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."This is peculiar, and may have to do with dinosaurs preferring to live in other types of environments," Kligman ecosystem was situated just above the equator in the middle of the bygone supercontinent called Pangaea, which later broke apart and gave rise to today's cousins of the dinosaurs, were the first vertebrates to achieve powered flight, followed much later by birds and are thought to have appeared roughly 230 million years ago, around the same time as the earliest dinosaurs, though their oldest-known fossils date to around 215 million years ago in newly identified pterosaur, named Eotephradactylus mcintireae, is thought to have hunted fish populating the local rivers. Its partial skeleton includes part of a tooth-studded lower jaw, some additional isolated teeth and the bones of its elongated fingers, which helped form its wing apparatus. Its wingspan was about three feet (one meter) and its skull was about four inches (10 cm) long. It had curved fangs at the front of its mouth for grabbing fish as it flew over rivers and blade-like teeth in the back of the jaw for slicing prey. The researchers said Eotephradactylus would have had a tail, as all the early pterosaurs means "ash-winged dawn goddess," recognizing the nature of the rock in which it was found and the position of the species near the beginning of the pterosaur lineage. Mcintireae recognizes Suzanne McIntire, the former Smithsonian fossil preparator who unearthed turtle was a land-living species while the lizard-like reptile was related to New Zealand's modern-day Tuatara. Also found were fossils of some other reptiles including armored plant-eaters, a large fish-eating amphibian and various fish including freshwater ecosystem's biggest predators were croc relatives perhaps 20 feet (six meters) long, bigger than the carnivorous dinosaurs inhabiting that part of the world at the time. On land was a four-legged meat-eating reptile from a group called rauisuchians. In the rivers dwelled a semi-aquatic carnivore from a group called phytosaurs, built much like a crocodile but with certain differences, such as nostrils at the top of the head rather than the end of the phytosaurs and some other lineages represented in the fossils disappeared in the end-Triassic extinction and turtles are still around today, while pterosaurs dominated the skies until the asteroid impact 66 million years ago that ended the age of dinosaurs."The site captures the transition to more modern terrestrial vertebrate communities," Kligman said.- EndsTrending Reel
Newsweek
07-07-2025
- Science
- Newsweek
Paleontologists Discover One of North America's Earliest Flying Reptiles
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The oldest known pterosaur fossil ever found outside of Europe has just been discovered in Arizona, offering new insights into the flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs hundreds of millions of years ago. In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers led by paleontologist Ben Kligman, of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, examine a fossilized jawbone of the new species. The gull-sized pterosaur was found at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona along with hundreds of other fossils dating back 209 million years—to the late Triassic period,—filling a gap in the fossil record just before the end-Triassic extinction. An artist's impression of the newly identified pterosaur Eotephradactylus mcintirea An artist's impression of the newly identified pterosaur Eotephradactylus mcintirea Brian Engh From what the researchers were able to gather, the new species of pterosaur—dubbed Eotephradactylus mcintireae after Suzanne McIntire, the FossiLab volunteer who discovered it—was small enough to comfortably perch on a person's shoulder. It likely fed on the site's fish. These findings, unearthed from the Owl Rock Member that outcrops in a remote and less explored area of the site, reveal that at that time older animals like giant amphibians and armored crocodile relatives lived alongside newer species such as early frogs, turtles and pterosaurs. "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 in a statement. "Fossil beds like these enable us to establish that all of these animals actually lived together." Ben Kligman, a Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow and paleontologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, quarrying a bonebed in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park in 2025. Ben Kligman, a Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow and paleontologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, quarrying a bonebed in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park in 2025. Ben Kligman, Smithsonian. Back in 2011, a team co-led by research geologist Kay Behrensmeyer, the National Museum of Natural History's curator of vertebrate paleontology, was exploring challenging terrain when they came across the fossil rich bonebed, which turned out to be preserving an entire Triassic ecosystem. "That's the fun thing about paleontology: you go looking for one thing, and then you find something else that's incredible that you weren't expecting," said Kligman, who began working on this site as part of his doctorate in 2018. Volunteers working on fossils from a Petrified Forest National Park bonebed in the FossiLab on view to museumgoers in the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils – Deep Time at the Smithsonian's National Museum of... Volunteers working on fossils from a Petrified Forest National Park bonebed in the FossiLab on view to museumgoers in the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils – Deep Time at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. More Ben Kligman, Smithsonian. Scientists believe that during the Triassic period, this part of Arizona was an arid place positioned in the middle of Pangaea right above the equator, later submerged by a flood that likely buried all the creatures preserved in the bonebed. Among the creatures unearthed at the site was also an ancient turtle with spike-like armor and shell, which at the same time was also present in Germany. This discovery suggests that turtles dispersed rapidly across Pangaea, despite their size and speed. Do you have a science story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about fossils? Let us know via science@ Reference Kligman, B. T., Whatley, R. L., Ramezani, J., Marsh, A. D., Lyson, T. R., Fitch, A. J., Parker, W. G., & Behrensmeyer, A. K. (2025). Unusual bone bed reveals a vertebrate community with pterosaurs and turtles in equatorial Pangaea before the end-Triassic extinction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122.
