admin Australia’s largest flying reptile has been uncovered, a pterosaur with an estimated seven-metre wingspan that soared like a dragon above the ancient, vast inland sea once covering much of outback Queensland.
University of Queensland PhD student Tim Richards in the UQ Department of Biological Sciences Dinosaur Lab led a research team analyzing fossilized dinosaur jaws found in the Wanamarra Country near Richmond in northwest Queensland.
“This is the closest thing to a real kite,” said Richards.
“The new pterosaur we named Tapungaka Shawi would have been a terrifying beast with a spear-like mouth and wings spread about twenty feet.
“It was essentially a long neck. and a mere skull with two long wings attached to it.
“This would have been pretty cruel.
“It would have cast a large shadow over the quivering little dino. The dino wouldn’t have heard it until it was too late.”
The skull alone is just over a meter long and has about 40 teeth, according to Richards, perfect for grabbing onto many of the fish known to live in Queensland’s now-defunct Eromanga Sea. It is said that it was
“It’s tempting to think you were flying like a magpie in mating season, so local magpie swoops seem very trivial. No amount of zip ties will save you.”
“But let me be clear, it did not resemble a bat at all, let alone a bird. Pterosaurs are a successful and diverse group of reptiles, the first vertebrates to attempt powered flight.”
The new species belongs to a group of pterosaurs known as Annexerians that inhabited all continents during the late dinosaur era.
Pterosaurs were perfectly adapted to powered flight, so they had thin walls and relatively hollow bones.
Because of these adaptations, its fossils are rare and often poorly preserved.
“It`s quite amazing fossils of these animals exist at all,” Mr Richards said.
“By world standards, the Australian pterosaur record is poor, but the discovery of Thapunngaka contributes greatly to our understanding of Australian pterosaur diversity.”
It is only the third species of anhanguerian pterosaur known from Australia, with all three species hailing from western Queensland.
Dr Steve Salisbury, co-author on the paper and Mr Richard`s PhD supervisor, said what was particularly striking about this new species of anhanguerian was the massive size of the bony crest on its lower jaw, which it presumably had on the upper jaw as well.
“These crests probably played a role in the flight dynamics of these creatures, and hopefully future research will deliver more definitive answers,” Dr Salisbury said.
The fossil was found in a quarry just northwest of Richmond in June 2011 by Len Shaw, a local fossicker who has been scratching around in the area for decades.
The new species’ name pays tribute to the natives of the Richmond area where the fossils were found, and incorporates words from the now-extinct language of the Wanamarra people.
“The common name tapungaka includes tapung [tabun] and ngaka [ngaga], which means spear and mouth respectively in Wanamarra,” said Dr. salisbury.
“The species name Shawi pays tribute to the fossil discoverer, Len Shaw, hence the name meaning ‘Shaw’s spearhead’.
