According to CNET, the researchers said that a fossil found during a police raid in Brazil proved to be one of the best-preserved prehistoric flying reptile fossils found to date. These remains belong to The Tapejarid, a toothless pterosaur that lived in the early Cretaceous period, and is known for its massive head-headed part consisting of bone and partly soft tissue.
The skull and part of the skeleton of Theapejarid in Brazil have also appeared before, but when the fossil was found, more than 90% of its skeleton was intact, with some soft tissues in place around the bone.
"This fossil is special because it is the most complete pterosaur fossil found in Brazil, and it brings new information about the anatomy and ecology of this animal," said Victor Beccari, co-author of the study on the discovery published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One. The fossil belongs to the species Tupandactylus navigans, which Beccari began studying in 2016 when he was an undergraduate student in biological sciences at the University of São Paulo. There, he used CT scans to assess bones that were still covered in sediment.
Pterodactyls inhabited Earth 66 million years ago before the asteroid struck Earth ended dinosaur domination, and as early as 228 million years ago. Tapejarid dinosaurs originally came from the Clatu Formation in the Alaripe Basin, a fossil-rich region in northeastern Brazil that dates back to a period in the Cretaceous period about 115 million years ago. The remains were found preserved in six perfectly complementary pale yellow limestone slabs, stitched together by straight-line cuts to present an almost complete picture of the organism. It has a wingspan of more than 8 feet (2.5 meters), a height of 3.2 feet (1 meter), and the top of its head is 40% of its height, which is shocking.
The researchers conclude that this sizeable head and relatively long neck may limit the creature's short flights and land-based foraging. They hope that future research will further shed light on the flight performance, lifestyles and ecosystems of these animals.
Since 1942, Brazilian law has classified fossils as state property because they are considered part of the national geological heritage, prohibiting commercial sale.
When the Brazilian Federal Police investigated an illegal fossil trade in 2013, they found the Tapejarid fossil described in the study. They found 3,000 specimens kept in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro and transferred them to the Institute of Earth Sciences of the University of São Paulo for study.