New type of pterosaur may have hunted on foot

Posted by Kate Taylor


Around 68 million years old, the new species has been named Eurazhdarcho langendorfensis, and belongsto a group of pterosaurs called the azhdarchids. These were long-necked, long-beaked pterosaurs whose wings were strongly adapted for a soaring lifestyle.


"With a three-metre wingspan, Eurazhdarcho would have been large, but not gigan
tic" says Dr Darren Naish, from the University of Southampton. "This is true of many of the animals so far discovered in Romania; they were often unusually small compared to their relatives elsewhere."

The discovery is the most complete example of an azhdarchid found in Europe so far - and its discovery supports a long-disputed theory about their behaviour.

