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NORTH AMERICA’S OLDEST PTEROSAUR SPECIES DISCOVERED
On Monday, July 7th, 2025, scientists in Washington, D.C., discovered a new species of Pterosaur. The jawbone of the reptile was found in 2011, but it has been identified as a completely new species. This is due to the development of modern scanning techniques that were not available when the jawbone was found.
The research team centered at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., has named the reptile Eotephradactylus mcintireae. This name is Greek for “Ash-Winged Dawn Goddess”, which is a reference to the volcanic ash that helped preserve the fossil. The species name is simply a callback to its discoverer, Suzanne McIntire.
This is the oldest Pterosaur to be discovered in North America, coming in at 209.2 million years old, as well as being the only early Pterosaur whose age has been determined.
The fossil was found in the Petrified Forest, a national park in Arizona. The Petrified Forest was once a riverbed more than 200 million years ago, roughly coinciding with the period Eotephradactylus mcintireae was around in. The sediment in the riverbed helped preserve evidence of life in the time period, including more than 1,200 individual fossils, including fish scales, as well as teeth and fossilized scat.
The fossil of Eotephradactylus mcintireae shows that it would have been small enough to comfortably perch on someone’s shoulder.
The teeth of Eotephradactylus mcintireae help show what food it ate. Dr. Kligman said, “They have an unusually high degree of wear around the tips.” According to Dr. Kligman, this shows that it probably ate something with hard body parts, most likely an armored primitive fish.
Scientists say, the discovery of the riverbed preserved a “snapshot” of the ecosystem where animals that are extinct now lived with modern animals. The riverbed preserved an evolutionary “transition,” according to Dr. Kligman, 200 million years ago, which shows extinct species and species that survived after the period living together.
Further details of the discovery will be accessible in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Links to articles:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/c0m8pjly992o
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/07/07/pterosaur-north-america-pterodactyl-eotephradactylus/

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