New, Super-Cute Pterosaur Discovered

A new species of pterosaur has just been found, and it's the cutest!



Source

Its size is about that of a cat, and its wingspan is only five feet. The first fossils has just been found on Hornby Island, Canada, hence the creature is referred to as the "Hornby Pterosaur".

The researchers have dated the fossils, and as such the Hornby Pterosaur existed around 83 and 72 million years ago.

according to the source:

It’s a bit less clear what happened to small pterosaurs at that time. One hypothesis suggests that small pterosaurs were outcompeted by birds, says Mark Witton, a pterosaur expert and study co-author.
(...)
Today’s study challenges that idea. The small pterosaur found on Hornby Island in Canada suggests that birds hadn’t yet pushed the smallest flying reptiles out of the air; small pterosaurs were still around in the late Cretaceous, living alongside the flying giants.

Thanks for posting. Not to many years ago the artist rendition would not have given him pin feathers...

originally posted by: 727Sky
Thanks for posting. Not to many years ago the artist rendition would not have given him pin feathers...

LOL. instead reptile scales? Kind of looks Penguinish to me.

Aquatic flightless 'birds' (with feathers). I sigh every time they find fossil bones and call them something - osaurs.

a reply to: swanne

Wow. That looks adorable.

Its mind boggling to think that of all the speciesc we have today, they only make up for only 1% for all the species which once existed.

I can only imagine what animals looked like and how much more diverse it was hundreds of millions of years ago.

originally posted by: odzeandennz
a reply to: swanne

Wow. That looks adorable.

Its mind boggling to think that of all the speciesc we have today, they only make up for only 1% for all the species which once existed.

I can only imagine what animals looked like and how much more diverse it was hundreds of millions of years ago.

A more accurate statistic is 1% of %1.....at best we understand a 100th of 1% of the life which has preceded us on this good earth...


Great post...cute little Dino!!!

-Chris

a reply to: Christosterone

let me correct myself , 99.99% of all species are which inhabited earth are now extinct.

didnt realize how accurate a simple insight in how many species we'll never know of had to be accurate ...

let me cite my sources too and the papers and metrics and scientists involved....

a reply to: odzeandennz

Didn't mean to come off as correcting u...

I was simply pointing out the awe inspiring number of animals this good earth has seen come and go...

In fact, I'd need to correct myself and say we probably are aware of one ten-thousandth of a percent of a percent of dinosaurs

originally posted by: [post=21196924]Christosterone[/post
Great post...cute little Dino!!!

-Chris

Are you kidding? That thing has an enormous...pecker.

a reply to: odzeandennz

Hehe, quite true.

Here's a graph about Earth's Extinction Events you might like to keep, if anyone else wants to get nitpicking with you:



Source: en.m.wikipedia.org...

Horizontal axis is Time, vertical axis is percentage of species lost.

a reply to: swanne

I.

Want.

One.

a reply to: swanne

Wherezits body?

originally posted by: IridiumFlareMadness
a reply to: swanne

Wherezits body?

Full body rendering:



It has a rather small body, a bit like a toucan.

a reply to: swanne

Yeah... real cute. But they may have had a temper.

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: [post=21196924]Christosterone[/post
Great post...cute little Dino!!!

-Chris

Are you kidding? That thing has an enormous...pecker.

LOL..
WELL PLAYED SIR...

You win the Internet for Labor Day 2016

-Chris

a reply to: redhorse

Me, too!

So until I read that it was the size of a cat I looked at it as if it was looking up from a hole in the ground.

But apparently this creature is more or less a flying head with wings. Funny.