In November 2021, Kronosaurus Korner museum curator Kevin Petersen accidentally uncovered dinosaur bones while retrieving tools from his car, lead researcher Adele Pentland from Curtin University told Interesting Engineering.
“He spotted a small section bone and knew that it was a pterosaur right away.”
However, it wasn’t until the specimen underwent scrupulous examination by PhD candidate Adele Pentland that its origins could be confirmed. Now, it’s official.
The fossils belong to a new genus and species of anhanguerian pterosaur, a flying reptile, a landmark discovery for many reasons.
“Although a new species of dinosaur is announced every week,” Pentland said, “pterosaurs are much rarer. This is because pterosaurs had thin-walled hollow bones, which was an evolutionary adaptation that allowed them to take to the skies.”
Meet Haliskia peterseni
With an impressive wingspan of approximately 15 feet (4.6m), they ruled the skies over 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous period when much of central western Queensland, where the bones were found, was underwater, Pentland stated. Due to its immense size, the flying giant might inspire engineers.
As a species, Haliskia peterseni is closely related to two other Australian pterosaurs, Pentland continued. The Mythunga camara comes from the same geological formation as Haliskia, known as the Toolebuc Formation. Just like its younger relative, however, the Ferrodraco lentoni, the information that researchers can glean comes from partial remains.
Though these two other species have only been discovered in the past five years, Haliskia is 22 percent complete. Thus, it’s “the most complete pterosaur known from Australia, and preserves twice as many bones as the other partial skeletons reported from the continent.”
Thus, Haliskia is the most complete picture ever afforded to scientists and might lead to new insights into the ever-intriguing world of the dinosaurs, climate shifts, and, most importantly, how animals adapt.
In comparing the fossils, key differences came to light. Haliskia had longer and more slender teeth than Mythunga. Ferrodraco lentoni had a slightly smaller wingspan. What will these differences lead scientists to conclude about this unreachable moment in time? 100 million years ago.
Furthermore, she was able to accurately measure its massive wingspan and study its throat bones, which are thin and delicate and quite long relative to its lower jaw. “This indicates that this pterosaur had a muscular tongue, which helped it feed on slippery prey items such as squid-like cephalopods and fish.”
The new fossil can help us understand climate change
Mr. Petersen expressed in a press release that expanding our knowledge of prehistoric species holds much value in modern times.
“To understand modern ecosystems,” Pentland concludes, “and how modern animals might respond to changing climate, we must look to the past.”
“Haliskia lived at a time of global greenhouse conditions significant to us today, so by studying pterosaurs with such massive wingspans, we can use biological structures to help inform and improve engineering practices.”
Here’s to reaching into the ancient past to find novel ideas moving forward.
The full study has just been published in Scientific Reports.
