• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Thursday, October 2, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

International team discover new species of flying reptiles

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
March 26, 2020
in Biology
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Nizar Ibrahim, University of Detroit Mercy


A community of flying reptiles that inhabited the Sahara 100 million years ago has been discovered by a University of Portsmouth palaeontologist and an international team of scientists.

Professor David Martill from Portsmouth and researchers from the United States and Morocco identified the three new species of toothed pterosaurs.

The pterosaurs were part of an ancient river ecosystem in Africa that was full of life, including fish, crocodiles, turtles and several predatory dinosaurs.

The research was led by Megan Jacobs from Baylor University, Texas, who worked alongside Professor Martill and Nizar Ibrahim from the University of Detroit Mercy.

The new fossils, published in the journal Cretaceous Research, are helping to uncover the very poorly known evolutionary history of Africa during the time of the dinosaurs. The new finds show that African pterosaurs were quite similar to those found on other continents.

These flying predators soared above a world dominated by predators, including crocodile-like hunters and carnivorous dinosaurs. Interestingly, herbivores such as sauropods and ornithischian dinosaurs are rare. Many of the predators, including the toothed pterosaurs, preyed on a superabundance of fish.

Professor Martill said: “We are in a golden age for discovering pterodactyles. This year alone we have discovered three new species and we are only into March.”

The new pterosaurs identified by the researchers from chunks of jaws and teeth, found in the middle Cretaceous Kem Kem beds of Morocco, had wingspans of around three to four metres. These aerial fishers snatched up their prey while on the wing, using a murderous looking set of large spike-like teeth that formed a highly effective tooth grab. Large pterosaurs such as these would have been able to forage over vast distances, similar to present day birds such as condors and albatrosses.

“These new finds provide an important window into the world of African pterosaurs,” said Ibrahim, assistant professor of Biology at Detroit Mercy. “We know so much more about pterosaurs from places like Europe and Asia, so describing new specimens from Africa is always very exciting.”

One of the species, Anhanguera, was previously only known from Brazil. Another, Ornithocheirus, had until now only been found in England and Middle Asia.

###

Media Contact
Sophie Wagstaff
[email protected]
07-966-314-727

Original Source

https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/news/international-team-discover-new-species-of-flying-reptiles

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104413

Tags: Earth SciencePaleontology
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Key Genes for Fish Adaptation: Spotlight on Mechanisms

October 2, 2025
Scientists Say Enhanced Fertility Diagnostics Could Advance Bird Conservation Breeding Programs

Scientists Say Enhanced Fertility Diagnostics Could Advance Bird Conservation Breeding Programs

October 2, 2025

Initiative Aims to Halt Decline of Iconic Butterfly Species

October 1, 2025

Revolutionary Algorithm Enhances Disease Classification Using Omics

October 1, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    90 shares
    Share 36 Tweet 23
  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    74 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • New Study Indicates Children’s Risk of Long COVID Could Double Following a Second Infection – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

    70 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • How Donor Human Milk Storage Impacts Gut Health in Preemies

    64 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Islet Macrophages Remodeled by Limited β-Cell Death

Exploring Disordered Eating and Identity in Students

Cysteine Boosts Gut Stem Cells via IL-22

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Success! An email was just sent to confirm your subscription. Please find the email now and click 'Confirm' to start subscribing.

Join 60 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.