Where did pterosaurs fly? Paleontologists have discovered a new pelican-like species
Pterosaurs are flying reptiles. Some of them resembled bats or birds, but scientists agree that they belong to a completely different branch of the evolutionary tree.
An international team of paleontologists has discovered a new species of pterosaur. The flying reptile from the Age of Dinosaurs has been named Epapatelo otyikokolo. The generic name “Epapatelo” is a translation of a word from the Angolan dialect Nhaneca meaning “wing.” The species name “otyikokolo,” in turn, is a translation of the word “lizard.”
The Nhaneca (Nyaneka) people are an indigenous group from the Namibe province of Angola. It was there, on the coast, that pterosaur fossils were found.
Pterosaurs in Africa
As the researchers determined, the newly discovered pterosaur had wings with a total length of almost 5 meters. Previously, fossilized remains of marine animals were found in the same region, which are now on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
The fossils are estimated to date back to the Late Cretaceous period. The researchers stress that such finds are extremely rare in sub-Saharan Africa.
“This gives us a much better understanding of the ecological role…
