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Oldest pterodactyloid species discovered and named (Image 3)
¬The remote Shishugou Formation in northwest China is a famous area for the discovery of dinosaurs, pterosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. The fossil of Kryptodrakon progenitor that became the centerpiece of research on pterodactyloid pterosaurs was found in 2001 in the red mudstone layer shown here. The area was featured in the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which inspired the name for the discovery--"Krypto" (hidden) and "drakon" (serpent).
Scientific analysis by an international team of researchers determined K. progenitor was the first pterosaur to display the characteristics of the Pterodactyloidea, which would become the dominant winged creatures of the prehistoric world.
The researchers also determined that K. progenitor lived around the time of the Middle to Upper Jurassic boundary. By studying the fossil fragments, researchers also determined that the pterodactyloids originated, lived and evolved in terrestrial rather than marine environments where other specimens have been found.
"This finding represents the earliest and most primitive pterodactyloid pterosaur, a flying reptile in a highly specialized group that includes the largest flying organisms," says Chris Liu, a program director in the National Science Foundations Division of Earth Sciences. "The research has extended the fossil record of pterodactyloids by at least five million years to the Middle-Upper Jurassic boundary about 163 million years ago."
The fieldwork that collected the fossil was funded by the National Geographic Society. Later fieldwork and study of the fossil was supported by the National Science Foundation's Division of Earth Sciences (grant EAR 09-22187).
To learn more, see the USF news story International scientific team discovers, names oldest pterodactyloid species
(Date of Image: April 2014) [Image 3 of 3 related images. Back to Image 1.]
Credit: Photo by James Clark
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