In this undated photo issued by the National Museums Scotland on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, University of Edinburgh PhD student Natalia Jagielska poses for a photo with the world's largest Jurassic pterosaur unearthed on the Isle of Skye. The fossil of a 170-million-year-old pterosaur, more popularly known as pterodactyl, billed as the world’s best-preserved skeleton of the prehistoric winged reptile, has been found on the Isle of Skye in remote Scotland. The National Museum of Scotland said the fossil of the pterosaur is the largest of its kind ever discovered from the Jurassic period. (Stewart Attwood/National Museums Scotland via AP)
By Sylvia Hui
The fossil of a 170 million-year-old pterosaur, described as the world’s best-preserved skeleton of the prehistoric winged reptile, has been found on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, scientists said Tuesday.
The National Museum of Scotland said the fossil of the pterosaur, more popularly known as pterodactyls, is the largest of its kind ever discovered from the Jurassic period. The reptile had an estimated wingspan of more than 2.5 meters (8.2 feet), similar to that of an albatross, the museum said.
The fossil was discovered in 2017 by PhD student Amelia Penny during a field trip on the Isle of Skye in remote northwestern Scotland, when she spotted the pterosaur’s jaw protruding from rocks. It will now be added to the museum’s collection.
“Pterosaurs preserved in such quality are exceedingly rare and are usually reserved to select rock formations in Brazil and China. And yet, an enormous superbly preserved pterosaur emerged from a tidal platform in Scotland,” said Natalia Jagielska, a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh who is the author of a new scientific paper describing the find.
Steve Brusatte, a professor of palaeontology at Edinburgh University, said the discovery was the best one found in Britain since the early 1800s, when celebrated fossil hunter Mary Anning uncovered many significant Jurassic fossils on the southern English coast.
He said the fossil had “feather light” bones, “as thin as sheets of paper,” and it took several days to cut it from rock using diamond-tipped saws as his team battled against encroaching tides.
It “tells us that pterosaurs got larger much earlier than we thought, long before the Cretaceous period when they were competing with birds, and that’s hugely significant,” Brusatte added.
The pterosaur has been given the Gaelic name Dearc sgiathanach, which translates as “winged reptile."
Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to fly, some 50 million years before birds. They lived as far back as the Triassic period, about 230 million years ago. They were previously thought to have been much smaller during the Jurassic period.
Catching you up on the stories you need to know this morning, mass shooting victims testify on Capitol Hill, the White House outlines its plan to vaccinate kids younger than five years old, and we break down how to protect yourself from monkeypox.
The pharmaceutical giant Moderna says its updated 'bivalent' booster shot provides a stronger immune response against the Omicron variant of COVID-19 specifically. This week, Moderna plans to submit preliminary data to U.S. health officials in the hopes that its new booster will be available later this summer. Dr. Sampson Davis, emergency medicine physician, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
NASA has announced that the first official full-color images will be beamed back to Earth from the James Webb Telescope on July 12. Gregory L. Robinson, the director of the James Webb Space Telescope Program in the NASA Science Mission Directorate, joined Cheddar News to discuss the anticipated image drop. “We expect to see the universe different," he said. "Webb will allow us to see much, much clearer and deeper into the universe."
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, Professor Laurence Hurst, Director of The Milner Centre for Evolution, discusses the mystery of human evolution that's still baffling scientists: why are humans still evolving, and why has the process sped up? Neville Sanjana, faculty member at NY Genome and New York University, breaks down the latest innovations in CRISPR genetic engineering and its applications from 'designer babies' to curing genetic conditions and diseases; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Butterfly Effect.'
Neville Sanjana, faculty member at NY Genome and New York University, joins Cheddar Reveals to break down the latest innovations in CRISPR genetic engineering and its applications from 'designer babies' to curing genetic conditions and diseases.
Professor Laurence Hurst, Director of The Milner Centre for Evolution, joins Cheddar Reveals to discuss the mystery of human evolution that's still baffling scientists: why are humans still evolving, and why has the process sped up?
It can be tough to make sustainable choices, and even harder when sustainable materials don't hold up. Loliware has a solution to the plastic straw problem: its seaweed-based straws are stronger than paper alternatives and once used, can be composted and return to the earth or sea without causing harm. Sea Briganti, CEO of Loliware, joins Closing Bell to discuss the tech behind the straws, new product launches, and more.
Umbilical cord blood banking platform Anja Health raised $4.5 million dollars in a seed round led by Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Anja Health offers a personalized, doctor-backed cord blood bank, which lets new parents freeze stem cells from their child's umbilical cord so they can be used to treat diseases in the future. It's a process Anja has called 'Hollywood's best-kept secret,' as celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Serena Williams, and more have all banked their umbilical cord blood. Kathryn Cross, the founder of Anja Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
After learning that the suspect in the Uvalde school shooting posted about his intentions on Facebook, activists are urging social networks to make changes. Lena Derhally, a licensed psychotherapist and author of "The Facebook Narcissist," joined Cheddar News to discuss the role social media plays in school shootings. "They're not really invested in taking down hateful content," she said about social platforms."In regards to the shooting, it was 15 minutes before that actual threat. It would be pretty hard for a social media company to trace that threat that quickly. But what they can do better is take down threats and hateful content much faster and more than they're doing now."
Esper Bionics CEO Dima Gazda breaks down how they're creating a mind-controlled bionic hand that guest smarter the more you use it, and what this innovation means for the future of the prosthetics industry.
