Reuters news agency on May 23 said that Argentine scientists have unearthed fossilized bones of a giant flying animal that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. This is a valuable new discovery and helps people open their eyes to the ancient world.

At the same time, this discovery also provides another look at what is believed to be one of the first creatures on Earth to use wings to hunt prey in the air.

A paleontologist carefully unearths ancient dinosaur skeletons.

Accordingly, fossils found in central Argentina were identified as pterosaurs. Scientists nicknamed it the “dragon of death”. The monster has a wingspan of more than 9m. Body size comparable to a bus today.

Leonardo Ortiz, the leader of the research team, gave the creature a suitable name for its predatory properties – “dragon of death”. “It’s the dragon that always brings death,” Ortiz said.

Like modern-day birds, the “dragon of death” had hollow bones – but this monster was reptilian in that it was “cold-blooded”, like an alligator.

Illustration.

The Daily Mail quoted researcher Ortiz as saying: “We don’t have the current record of any close relatives. Or similar body-modifying species have not been found.”

Paleontologists unearthed fossils of this species in the Andes in the province of Mendoza, Argentina. Results of analysis of fossil preserved rocks dating from the Cretaceous period.

Based on dating estimates, this pterosaur lived at least 20 million years before the asteroid hit what is now Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, wiping out about a quarter of all life on our planet a few miles away. about 66 million years ago. So they are thought to have lived 86 million years ago.

Leonardo Ortiz also said that the unprecedented features on the fossil forced scientists to name new genera and species. That is why the name Thanatosdrakon amaru was born. It is a combination of two ancient Greek words, death (thanatos) and dragon (drakon).

Illustration.

The newly discovered pterosaur is said to have a scary appearance. The size of their bones suggests that Thanatosdrakon amaru is the largest pterosaur ever discovered in South America. They are also among the largest species worldwide.

Pterosaurs, dinosaurs from the same family as the “dragons of death”, were one of the first creatures to develop the ability to fly with energy. Dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago when a giant meteorite collided with Earth, near the Yucatan Peninsula.

Source: afamily.vn