08/10/2021 14:02
Clarín.com
International
Updated 08/10/2021 2:02 PM
A group of Australian scientists discovered the remains of a
giant flying dinosaur
, described as a
"fearsome dragon"
, which flew over Australian territory during the
Cretaceous
period
, academic sources reported Tuesday.
With seven-meter-long wings and a lance-shaped snout, this new pletosaurus
"would have been a fearsome beast,"
said Tim Richards, leader of the
University of Queensland team
that studied this reptile, in a statement from this institution. Australian.
The
Thapunngaka shawi
, as the prehistoric beast was dubbed, is "the closest thing in real life to a dragon," said Richards, who is seeking a doctorate at the University of Queensland.
Tim Richards, the leader of the team that analyzed the pletosaurus, with the fossil remains of the prehistoric flying reptile.
EFE / Tim Richards /
The fossil of a jaw
The description of this pletosaurus was based on the analysis
of a jaw fossil
that was discovered in June 2011 by local Len Shaw on the lands of the Wanamara people, in a remote northern area of the state of Queensland, in eastern Australia.
Scientists estimate that this dinosaur had a skull of around one meter and was armed with a set of 40 molars that allowed it to feed on large fish that inhabited the ancient Eromanga Sea during the Cretaceous, a period that began 145 million years ago. years and ended 66 million years ago.
The Thapunngaka shawi, believed to be
the first animals with bones in the back
to fly and perfectly adapted to powered flight, had relatively hollow, thin-walled bone pieces, scientists say.
Steve Salisbury, a co-author of the paper and Richard's PhD supervisor, highlighted the enormous size of the bony ridge of the lower jaw, which was presumably similar to the upper jaw of this pletosaurus, the largest described in Australia to date.
According to the scientist "these ridges probably played a role in the flight dynamics of these creatures."
The name of this flying dinosaur comes from ngaka (nga-ga) and thapun (ta-boon), which in the language of the aboriginal people of Wanamara mean "mouth" and "spear", respectively, while shawy derives from the surname of its discoverer .
EFE
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