A what?
A pterosaur … tare-o-sar (tare as in hectare … sar as in sardine). It’s a reptile … but not just any reptile … it’s a flying reptile and a really OLD one, millions of years old.
There haven’t been any of them alive on this planet for a very long time. So it was a thrill for the people who recently found the remains (the fossil) of this particular pterosaur, and for the people who are studying it and learning from it.
In the video below, Professor Steve Brusatte and the lead author of this video, Natalia Jagielska, are obviously excited. Me too. This is really cool!
The remains of this old “bird” … this flying reptile or flying vertebrate … the remains were found in Scotland on the Isle of Skye in 2017. At that time, in 2017, it was the oldest and largest flying vertebrate ever found … ever! Anywhere on our planet. The wingspan of the pterosaur they found is estimated to be eight feet, the body about six feet long (not counting the goofy tail), and the jaws and teeth about 1.5 feet long … and this was a young one, still growing. They estimate the wingspan of a full-grown one to be around 12 feet.
This is the first time this species of pterosaur has been found anywhere on earth. Other species have been found, but not this one.
The fossil they found is the only one of its kind ever found. And it is 170 MILLION years old. How amazing.
The people in the video speak fairly rapidly. Stop and re-wind often if you wish.
What else is out there, on land and in the air and in the water, that we know nothing about? Some oceanographers report that we have researched only 5% of the oceans on our planet. What an amazing journey to learn about our planet, the life that came before us, and the life that is still here with us that, as yet, we know nothing about.