Argentine researchers have discovered a new species of flying reptile – named “The Dragon of Death” – where lived 86 million years agoalong with the dinosaurs, bringing to the fore the giant predator that was as long as a big bus.
The new species of prehistoric flying reptile – or pterosaur – It was about 9 meters long and researchers discovered its fossils in the Andes Mountains, in the province of Mendoza in western Argentina.. The rocks that hid them fossils date back to 86 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.
This calculation means that the scary flying reptiles elived at least 20 million years before the asteroid impact on the present-day Yucatan Peninsula, which wiped out about three-quarters of life on our planet.
The head of the mission Leonardo Ortiz stated in an interview that the unprecedented characteristics of the fossil made it necessary to give a new name to this species of pterosaur (ThanatosDrakon) with the combination of Greek words “Dragon” and “Death”.
“It seemed appropriate to call it that”said Ortiz. “He is the Dragon of Death”.
The reptile would probably be a terrifying sight in the ethers. The researchers, who published their study last April in the journal Cretaceous Research, say the huge bones rank the new species as the largest pterosaur ever discovered in South America and one of the largest in the world.
“We have no record of any of his close relatives, even with a slightly modified physique with this beast,” Ortiz said.
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