Science: “The Discovery of the Century”: Museum Unearths Pterosaur Fossils

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“Discovery of the Century”: Museum reveals pterosaur fossils

Scientist Natalia Jagelska presents a Jurassic pterosaur fossil in Edinburgh. Photo: Stuart Atwood/National Museum of Scotland/PA Media/dpa

The discovery of the century was the discovery of a dinosaur fossil of historical interest a few years ago. It is now presented at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The size of an albatross: a fossil of a pterodactyl with unprecedented proportions from the Jurassic period has been unearthed at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Discovered on the Isle of Skye in northwest Scotland in 2017, the pterosaur had a wingspan of more than 2.5 meters and lived about 170 million years ago.

To date, only complete skeletons of much smaller pterosaurs have been known from the Jurassic period. Later, in the Cretaceous period, pterosaurs grew to the size of fighter planes, the museum said in a statement.

The discovery fills a gap in the evolutionary history of reptiles, Natalia Jagelska, the scientist responsible for researching the discovery, told British news agency PA. It is a previously unknown genus, which was given the name Derc sgiathanach.

The very delicate fossilized skeleton was the “discovery of the century” in Great Britain, which impressed the world. The fossil has now been added to the collection in the National Gallery of Scotland, but is said to remain the subject of research.

dpa

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