A groundbreaking discovery in Arizona’s Petrified Forest reveals North America’s oldest pterosaur.

In a groundbreaking study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of Smithsonian researchers, led by paleontologist Ben Kligman, unveiled the discovery of North America’s oldest known pterosaur. This remarkable fossil, unearthed in Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, offers a unique glimpse into the distant past, dating back over 200 million years to the late Triassic period.

This discovery, coupled with the unveiling of hundreds of other fossils, provides essential insights into an ancient ecosystem at the crossroads of evolutionary change. It serves as a reminder of the diversity of life that coexisted before the catastrophic end-Triassic extinction event, which wiped out 75% of Earth’s species.

A Snapshot of the Late Triassic Ecosystem

The newly discovered pterosaur, named Eotephradactylus mcintireae, belongs to a lineage of flying reptiles that coexisted with early dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. These creatures, which lived during a time when Pangaea—the supercontinent—was beginning to fragment, were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight. The fossilized jawbone, found alongside a range of other remains, provides significant information about this pterosaur’s diet and lifestyle.

The site captures the transition to more modern terrestrial vertebrate communities where we start seeing groups that thrive later in the Mesozoic living alongside these older animals that don’t make it past the Triassic,” Kligman remarked. The fossil record shows how evolutionary upstarts like pterosaurs, early frogs, and turtles coexisted with more ancient creatures, including giant amphibians and armored crocodile relatives. The unique mix of animal groups highlights the extraordinary evolutionary shifts that occurred during this period.

A Fossil Bed Rich in Early Life Forms

The team’s discovery came from a remote bonebed located within the Owl Rock Member of Petrified Forest National Park, which is renowned for its Triassic fossil beds. The site, rich in volcanic ash, allowed researchers to date the fossils with remarkable precision, placing them around 209 million years ago. These fossils preserve a snapshot of a semi-arid environment interspersed with river channels, prone to seasonal flooding. The floodwaters likely carried sediment and volcanic ash, burying a diverse array of life forms that would later be fossilized.

The Pterosaur That Lived on Fish

The newly discovered pterosaur species, Eotephradactylus mcintireae, was a relatively small flying reptile, likely no larger than a seagull. It had a tooth-studded jaw that provides valuable insight into its diet. The teeth, which showed signs of wear, suggest that the pterosaur fed primarily on fish, many of which were armored with thick scales. This dietary information helps researchers understand the ecological role of pterosaurs in the ancient ecosystems they inhabited.

What was exciting about uncovering this specimen was that the teeth were still in the bone, so I knew the animal would be much easier to identify,” said Suzanne McIntire, the preparator who helped unearth the specimen. This pterosaur’s remains, coupled with the high-quality preservation of its teeth, allowed the team to classify it with a high degree of certainty, further enhancing our understanding of early pterosaur evolution.

Source;IndianDefencereview 

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