Scientists uncover fossil of unknown pterosaur
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A team of international scientists has unearthed the fossil of a new species of pterosaur and its eggs, the Chinese Academy of Sciences said yesterday.
The fossil was discovered in the city of Hami, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and date back to the Early Cretaceous period, said Wang Xiaolin, a researcher with the CAS who is in charge of the excavation.
The pterosaurs were sexually dimorphic, and five of their eggs are three-dimensionally preserved, marking a first worldwide.
Before their discovery, there had only been four flattened, two-dimensionally preserved pterosaur eggs.
The team has named the new species Hamipterus tianshanensis after the place in which they were found.
“Most of the fossils are relatively intact, and this is favorable for assembly of a complete pterosaur skeleton,” Wang said.
The fossils will shed new light on the reproduction, development, and behavior of pterosaurs, he said.
The findings were published in the international journal Current Biology in cooperation with Brazilian paleontologist Alexander Kellner and other scientists on Thursday.
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