Japan dinosaur museum identifies fossil as new pterosaur species
A fossil found nearly three decades ago in southwestern Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture has been identified to be a previously unclassified genus and species of pterosaur, or prehistoric flying reptile, a local dinosaur museum said Tuesday.
Nipponopterus mifunensis is the first pterosaur to be formally named as a distinct species based on the fossil. Because it is the first known member of a new genus group of closely related species, the fossil is expected to offer important clues for studying the evolutionary process of pterosaurs.
The research was the result of work between institutions including the Mifune Dinosaur Museum, Kumamoto University and Hokkaido University. The fossil, a cervical vertebra, was found in 1996 in a layer of rock dating to the Late Cretaceous Period, approximately 66 million to 100.5 million years ago.
The fossil was initially thought to be from a member of the broader Azhdarchidae family of pterosaurs. Further research enabled paleontologists to compare specimens and confirm it differed from existing fossils.
Their findings were published in an international scientific journal in March.
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles distinct from dinosaurs.
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