Flying Death (For Fish, Probably)

[Recusant]

They're going with "dragon" and I can't say I blame them.    A newly discovered pterosaur classified among the Anhangueridae, from Australia (would have been part of Gondwana when the pterosaur was living).

To avoid any problems I didn't use the art, but there's a link to it below the image from the paper.

"Researchers find a 'fearsome dragon' that soared over outback Queensland" | EurekAlert

Reconstruction of the skull of Thapunngaka shawi.
Image Credit: Tim Richards
[Artist's impression]

Australia's largest flying reptile has been uncovered, a pterosaur with an estimated seven-metre wingspan that soared like a dragon above the ancient, vast inland sea once covering much of outback Queensland.

University of Queensland PhD candidate Tim Richards, from the Dinosaur Lab in UQ's School of Biological Sciences, led a research team that analysed a fossil of the creature's jaw, discovered on Wanamara Country, near Richmond in North West Queensland.

"It's the closest thing we have to a real life dragon," Mr Richards said.

"The new pterosaur, which we named Thapunngaka shawi, would have been a fearsome beast, with a spear-like mouth and a wingspan around seven metres.

"It was essentially just a skull with a long neck, bolted on a pair of long wings

[Continues . . .]

The paper is open access:

"A new species of crested pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea, Anhangueridae) from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) of Richmond, North West Queensland, Australia" | Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

Abstract:

Pterosaur fossils from Australia are exceptionally rare. Since the discovery of the continent's first pterosaur some 40 years ago, fewer than 20 specimens have been described. The Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) Toolebuc Formation of North West Queensland is the most productive horizon for Australian pterosaurs.

Herein, we describe a new species of pterosaur, Thapunngaka shawi gen. et sp. nov., from the Toolebuc Formation, near Richmond, North West Queensland. The specimen (KKF494) comprises the rostral portion of a crested mandible and represents the largest pterosaur yet described from Australia.

The new species presents features that indicate an affinity with Anhangueridae, which is consistent with their reported cosmopolitan distribution during this period. Thapunngaka shawi can be distinguished from other anhanguerids through the possession of a mandible with a smooth dorsal surface medially and uniquely sized alveoli that are positioned laterally along the jaw. Phylogenetic analysis reveals a close relationship among all Australian anhanguerids and points to an endemic Australian radiation within Anhangueridae. Thapunngaka shawi has the largest mandibular crest of any anhanguerian worldwide, and provides further evidence for the existence of an increasingly diverse range of large crested pterosaurs in the Australian part of eastern Gondwana during the Cretaceous.

[¶ added -R]

[Ecurb Noselrub]

I saw this. The only thing I can say is that I am glad an asteroid hit us 65 million years ago.