On the Isle of Skye in Scotland, researchers have come across an amazing find. Remains of a vertebrate dating back to the Mesozoic (mid-life) era have been found. The researchers who came up with this finding called it the best-preserved fossil yet in UK history. So what is it that so overwhelms researchers? Read to find out.
In a research paper published in the journal Current Biology, researchers have identified the fossil remains of a mid-Jurassic vertebrate. The creature is called a Pterosaur and when it lived it was considered the largest flying animal of the Mesozoic era. Researchers who found this fossil have anointed it as a “superlative Scottish fossil.” The first sighting of this fossil was made by a PhD student in 2017 at a site called Brothers’ Point on the shores of the Isle of Sky, northern Scotland.
More about the found pterosaur.
Examining the remains of the fossil found, researchers clarified that the mid-Jurassic animal’s wingspan was about 2.5 meters. Pterosaurs or pterodactyls can be considered flying reptiles that existed from the late Triassic. This goes back to 228 million years ago, to the end of the Cretaceous Period, 66 million years ago, when an asteroid wiped out almost all life on Earth. Pterosaurs are not at all to be confused with dinosaurs.
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