A 170-million-year-old pterosaur found on the Isle of Skye off the north-west coast of Scotland had a wingspan of about 2.5 metres, making it the largest known winged reptile from the Jurassic
An exceptionally well-preserved
pterosaur fossil, unearthed on a Scottish island, represents
the largest flying reptile ever discovered from the Jurassic Period.
With a wingspan of approximately 2.5 metres, an aerodynamic head and upper and lower teeth that criss-crossed each other like the stiff hairs on the leaf of a Venus flytrap, the new species provides evidence that pterosaurs started getting larger at a much earlier point in prehistory than previously thought.
The newly named 170-million-year-old
Dearc sgiathanach was about the size of a modern albatross, says
Natalia Jagielska at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
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The 747 of its day.