New pterosaur with more than 400 teeth 明らかにするd in Germany
A new 種類 of dinosaur with more than 400 teeth which ate in a 類似の way to ducks and flamingos has been discovered in Germany.
The 化石 of the nearly 完全にする Balaenognathus maeuseri, part of the pterosaur family, was discovered accidentally in a Bavarian quarry while scientists were excavating a large 封鎖する of 石灰岩 含む／封じ込めるing crocodile bones.
Since the first pterosaur was discovered in Bavarian 石灰岩 in the 18th century, hundreds of remains of the 飛行機で行くing reptiles have been 明らかにするd, making the quarries of the Franconian Jura one of the richest pterosaur localities in the world.
The 研究 was led by Professor David Martill of the University of Portsmouth, Hampshire, and 伴う／関わるd palaeontologists from England, Germany and Mexico.
Prof Martill said: “The nearly 完全にする 骸骨／概要 was 設立する in a very finely 層d 石灰岩 that 保存するs 化石s beautifully.
“The jaws of this pterosaur are really long and lined with small, 罰金, 麻薬中毒の teeth, with tiny spaces between them like a nit 徹底的に捜す.
Bones of Balaenognathus maeuseri 設立する in a 厚板 of 石灰岩 during 研究 in Germany
“The long jaw is curved 上向きs like an avocet and at the end it ゆらめくs out like a spoonbill. There are no teeth at the end of its mouth, but there are teeth all the way along both jaws 権利 to the b ack of its smile.
“What’s even more remarkable is some of the teeth have a hook on the end, which we’ve never seen before in a pterosaur ever.
“These small hooks would have been used to catch the tiny shrimp the pterosaur likely fed on ? making sure they went 負かす／撃墜する its throat and weren’t squeezed between the teeth.”
The animal likely dabbled as it waded through shallow lagoons, sucking in tiny water shrimps and copepods and then filtering them out through its teeth in the same way as ducks and flamingos.
The 指名する “Balaenognathus” 概略で translated means 鯨 mouth because of its filtering feeding style, while the 明確な／細部 指名する “maeuseri” is in honour of co-author Matthias Mauser, who died during the 令状ing of the paper.
Prof Martill said: “Matthias was a friendly and warm-hearted 同僚 of a 肉親，親類d that can be scarcely 設立する. ーするために 保存する his memory, we 指名するd the pterosaur in his honour.”
The paper, A new pterodactyloid pterosaur with a unique filter-feeding apparatus from the Late Jurassic of Germany, is published in Palaontologische Zeitschrift.
The 見本／標本 is 現在／一般に on 陳列する，発揮する in the Bamberg Natural History Museum in Germany.
