The Mifune Dinosaur Museum in Japan announced on Tuesday that a fossil found nearly three decades ago in Kumamoto Prefecture has been identified as a previously unclassified genus and species of pterosaur named Nipponopterus mifunensis. The discovery marks the first known member of a new genus and is expected to provide important clues for studying the evolutionary process of pterosaurs.
The fossil, discovered in 1996, is a cervical vertebra measuring 6.5 centimeters long, 2.5 centimeters wide, and 0.7 centimeters high. It was unearthed at a site that is 90 million years old, in a layer of rock dating from the last period of the Cretaceous, between 66 and 100.5 million years ago. Initially, it was thought to belong to a member of the Azhdarchidae family of pterosaurs.
However, research conducted by the Mifune Dinosaur Museum, Kumamoto University, and Hokkaido University allowed paleontologists to compare specimens and confirm that it was unlike existing fossils. The researchers discovered that the fossil is the sixth of nine cervical vertebrae. By identifying four unique characteristics, they concluded that Nipponopterus mifunensis is a new genus and species.
"Unknown characteristics have been discovered. It is different from those in China and other continents," said the head of conservation at the Mifune Dinosaur Museum, according to El Nuevo Día, emphasizing the fragility and vulnerability of these archaeological remains.
The findings were published in March in a British scientific journal. It is the first pterosaur to be formally named as a distinct species based on a fossil found in Japan.
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles distinct from dinosaurs. The discovery of a new genus and species adds to the understanding of pterosaur diversity during the Cretaceous period.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.