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New Pterodactyl Species Found in China |
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Written by Staff Writer
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Feb 13, 2008 at 01:55 PM |
This week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences it was announced that a new species of "mini-pterodactyl" had been found.
The sparrow-size Nemicolopterus crypticus, whose discovery was announced this week by Chinese and Brazilian scientists, is one of the smallest pterosaurs known.
Despite its small stature and 10-inch (25-centimeter) wingspan, the toothless reptile may be the ancestor of gigantic pterodactyls that stretched 20-feet (6-meters) from wing tip to wing tip.
This fossil “opens a new chapter on the evolutionary history of this group of [flying] reptiles,” said study lead author Alexander Kellner, of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Scientists recently discovered a near-complete skeleton of N. crypticus in China's Liaoning Province.
An analysis found that the skeleton was not an immature animal, but instead a new species of pterosaur—one of the smallest known.
The little birdlike creature, with a wingspan of about 10 inches (25 centimeters), had strangely curved feet that suggested it spent most of its life in trees.
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