Scientists announced on Aug. 13 the remarkable discovery of about 50 fossilized skeletons of a creature, called “Caiuajaradobruskii,” a type of flying reptile known as a pterosaur that lived alongside the dinosaurs, at a site in southern Brazil.
These pterosaurs, whose wingspans measured up to nearly 8 feet (2.35 meters), inhabited a lakeside oasis in a large desert region during the Cretaceous Period, living in vibrant colonies with others of the same species of all ages, they said.
"This helps us to have a glimpse on the anatomical variation achieved by this species from young to old," said Alexander Kellner, a paleontologist with Brazil's National Museum at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, who led the study.
Many pterosaurs, especially the later ones, boasted elaborate and sometimes large head crests. Caiuajara's head was topped with a big triangular crest that looked like "a bony sail," according to Kellner. "It looks bizarre," he said.
There is no indication that the crest was limited to either males or females, but it appears to have become ever larger relative to the rest of the body as the pterosaur matured.
"The size of the crest was small in young animals and very large in older ones," Kellner said.
Pterosaurs were Earth's first flying vertebrates, with birds and bats making their appearances much later. They thrived from about 220 million years ago to 65 million years ago, when they were wiped out by the asteroid that also doomed the dinosaurs.
By Ruchi Singh
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
