Happy Atheist Forum

General => Science => Topic started by: Tank on March 05, 2011, 08:51:42 AM

Title: Flying Reptile Fossil from Texas May Be World's Oldest
Post by: Tank on March 05, 2011, 08:51:42 AM
Rare 89-Million-Year-Old Flying Reptile Fossil from Texas May Be World's Oldest Pteranodon (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110301122142.htm)

QuoteScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2011) â€" Fossilized bones discovered in Texas from a flying reptile that died 89 million years ago may be the earliest occurrence of the prehistoric creature known as Pteranodon.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2011) â€" Fossilized bones discovered in Texas from a flying reptile that died 89 million years ago may be the earliest occurrence of the prehistoric creature known as Pteranodon.

Previously, Pteranodon bones have been found in Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming in the Niobrara and Pierre geological formations. This likely Pteranodon specimen is the first of its kind found in Texas, according to paleontologist Timothy S. Myers at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, who identified the reptile. The specimen was discovered north of Dallas by an amateur fossil hunter who found various bones belonging to the left wing.

Pteranodon was a type of pterosaur that lived about the same time as some dinosaurs, about 100 million to 65 million years ago. The only reptiles to dominate the ancient skies, pterosaurs had broad leathery wings and slim torsos...

One for the locals.