Scientists from the Natural History Museum, the Universities of Bristol, Leicester and Liverpool have announced the discovery of a new species of pterosaur in specimens found on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The new pterosaur belongs to the Darwinian pterosaur lineage. Its discovery shows that the branch was much more diverse than previously thought, lasting more than 25 million years from the late Early to Late Jurassic. During this time, species in this clade spread across the globe.
The discovery provides a new, more complex model for the early evolution of pterosaurs.
The rarity and incompleteness of Middle Jurassic pterosaur fossils has hindered attempts to understand early pterosaur evolution. This discovery shows that all major Jurassic pterosaur lineages evolved before the end of the Early Jurassic, earlier than previously recognized. The discovery also suggests that pterosaurs continued into the Late Jurassic, along with ornithosaurs (the dinosaurs that eventually evolved into modern birds).
The remains consisted of partial skeletons, including parts of shoulders, wings, legs and back bones. Many bones are still completely embedded in the rock and can only be studied through CT scans.
Professor Paul Barrett, a researcher at the Natural History Museum and senior author of the paper, said: "The newly discovered pterosaur species Ceoptera helps narrow down the time frame of several major events in the evolution of flying reptiles. Its appearance in the Middle Jurassic of Britain was completely unexpected, because most of its close relatives came from China. This shows that the advanced group of flying reptiles to which it belongs emerged earlier than we thought, and soon spread almost all over the world."
Professor Barrett and colleagues described the new species, which they named Ceopteraevansae: Ceoptera is derived from the Scottish Gaelic word Cheò, meaning mist (a reference to the common Gaelic name for the Isle of Skye, Eileana' Cheò, the Isle of Mist), and the Latin word -ptera, meaning wing. Evansae is in recognition of Professor Susan E. Evans's many years of research in anatomy and paleontology, especially on the Isle of Skye.
Lead author Dr Liz Martin-Silverstone, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol, said: "The period in which Ceoptera is found is one of the most important in pterosaur evolution and is also the period for which we have the fewest specimens, which shows its importance. The discovery of more bones in the rock, some of which are integral to determining what kind of pterosaur Ceoptera was, makes this discovery even better than initially thought. It brings us a step closer to understanding where and when more advanced pterosaurs evolved."
Compiled source: ScitechDaily