Mystery species of prehistoric flying reptile found amongst museum fossils

Press/Media: Research cited

Description

Roy Smith made a surprising discovery while searching through 100-year-old fossil collections from the UK – a new mystery species of pterosaur, unlike anything seen before.

Period10 Nov 2020 → 16 Nov 2020

Media coverage

17

Media coverage

  • TitleStudent finds new species of pterosaur
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletEuro Weekly News
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritorySpain
    Date16/11/20
    DescriptionRoy Smith spotted differences in the fossils found in Cambridgeshire, which were initially thought to be shark spines, which led him to find that they were actually fragments of the jaws of prehistoric ‘flying lizards’ with no teeth
    Producer/AuthorJennifer Leighfield
    URLhttps://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/11/16/student-finds-new-species-of-pterosaur/
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleSurprising discovery by paleontologists: a fossil shark becomes a mysterious pterosaur.
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletWirtschaftsblatt-BG
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryBulgaria
    Date15/11/20
    DescriptionWhen searching 100-year-old collections of fossils from the United Kingdom, paleontologists made a surprising discovery - a new, mysterious species of pterosaur such as has never been seen before.
    Producer/AuthorRainer Proksch
    URLhttps://www.wirtschaftsblatt-bg.com/wissenschaft/uberraschende-entdeckung-der-palaontologen-fossiler-hai-wird-zum-geheimnisvollen-pterosaurier/
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • Title'Shark spines' found in a mine 100 years ago are bits of pterosaur jaw
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletBig World Tale
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date15/11/20
    DescriptionA mystery species of toothless pterosaur has been identified among century-old fossil collections — where its jaw fragments had been mistaken for shark fin spines.
    URLhttps://bigworldtale.com/science/shark-spines-found-in-a-mine-100-years-ago-are-bits-of-pterosaur-jaw/
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleMysterious Pterosaur Fossil Passed For A Shark Until Its Toothless Jaws Gave It Away
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletSyfy Wire
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date14/11/20
    DescriptionWhen a strange and unidentified species of toothless pterosaur flew out of museum collections that had been gathering dust for at least a hundred years, it had been previously mistaken for a shark because its jaw appeared to be a spine from an ancient shark
    Producer/AuthorElizabeth Rayne
    URLhttps://www.syfy.com/syfywire/mysterious-pterosaur-fossil-mistaken-for-shark
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleShark fossil is actually unknown pterosaur
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletPress From
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date13/11/20
    DescriptionPalaeontologists have made a surprising discovery while searching through 100-year-old fossil collections from the UK – a new mystery species of pterosaur, unlike anything seen before.
    URLhttps://pressfrom.info/br/noticias/mundo/-198273-fossil-de-tubarao-e-na-verdade-de-pterossauro-desconhecido.html
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleScientists Stumble Upon New Mysterious Species of Flying Reptile Among 'Shark' Fossils
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletIBTimes Singapore
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritorySingapore
    Date12/11/20
    DescriptionPaleontologists discovered a new species of pterosaur among reliquiae that were thought to be fossils of shark spines
    Producer/AuthorJeevan Biswas
    URLhttps://www.ibtimes.sg/scientists-accidentally-stumble-upon-new-species-flying-dinosaur-among-shark-fossils-53272
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleAncient Fossils Belonged to Toothless Pterosaurs and a New Species
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletMysterious Universe
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date12/11/20
    DescriptionWhen 100-million-year-old fossils were discovered over a century ago, they were wrongly identified. New research has revealed that the bones belonged to two toothless pterosaurs as well as a newly discovered species.
    Producer/AuthorJocelyne LeBlanc
    URLhttps://mysteriousuniverse.org/2020/11/ancient-fossils-belonged-to-toothless-pterosaurs-and-a-new-species/
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleSurprising find: a fossil shark turned into a mysterious pterosaur
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletClarín
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryArgentina
    Date11/11/20
    DescriptionThe strange creature, unlike anything seen so far, was found among the fossil collections of the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge
    URLhttps://www.clarin.com/internacional/sorprendente-hallazgo-tiburon-fosil-convirtio-misterioso-pterosaurio_0_yJfPS7gnO.html
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleSplash FM Coverage
    Media name/outletKBOT-FM
    Media typeRadio
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date11/11/20
    DescriptionRoy Smith has made a surprising discovery while searching through 100-year-old fossil collections from the UK – a new mystery species of pterosaur, unlike anything seen before.
    URLtiny.cc/bwy3tz
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleScientist studying shark fossils instead discovers previously unknown winged reptile
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletThe Charlotte Observer
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date11/11/20
    DescriptionThe new species of pterosaur — “the less well-known cousins of dinosaurs” — was discovered by accident when a scientist realized what was thought to be a fish fossil from North Africa was actually a “long slender toothless beak,” according to the University of Portsmouth
    Producer/AuthorMark Price
    URLhttps://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/world/article247120856.html
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleThey discovered a fossil shark that was actually a mysterious pterosaur
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletSanjuan8.com
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryArgentina
    Date11/11/20
    DescriptionA team of paleontologists made a surprising discovery by searching 100-year-old collections of fossils from the UK: a mysterious new species of pterosaur, unlike anything seen before
    Producer/AuthorEuropa Press
    URLhttps://www.sanjuan8.com/a-un-click/descubrieron-tiburon-fosil-realidad-misterioso-pterosaurio-11112020_PEwgvLWDg
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleFossil shark turned into mysterious pterosaur
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletRevista Bohemia
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryCuba
    Date11/11/20
    DescriptionPaleontologists make a surprising discovery by searching 100-year-old fossil collections in the UK: a mysterious new species of pterosaur, unlike anything seen before
    URLbohemia.cu/ciencia/2020/11/tiburon-fosil-convertido-en-misterioso-pterosaurio/
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleMysterious remains of ancient flying reptile found hidden among shark fossils
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletmsn
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date11/11/20
    DescriptionCombing through a drawer of shark fossils early this year, Roy Smith made a surprising and thrilling discovery: remains of a flying reptile that lived more than 60 million years ago
    URLhttps://www.msn.com/en-xl/asia/other/mysterious-remains-of-ancient-flying-reptile-found-hidden-among-shark-fossils/ar-BB1aTSK4?srcref=rss
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleNew Pterosaur Species Found Hiding in Plain Sight in Museum
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletSci-News.com
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date11/11/20
    DescriptionA new re-examination of fossil material housed in the Sedgwick Museum of Cambridge and the Booth Museum at Brighton has revealed the fossilized jaw fragments from a new Cretaceous-period azhdarchid pterosaur previously identified as shark fin spines and fish jaws.
    URLwww.sci-news.com/paleontology/azhdarchid-pterosaur-museum-09040.html
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleFossil Shark Inside Drawer Turns Out To Be Mysterious Flying Reptile Remains
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletInternational Business Times
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date11/11/20
    DescriptionFor decades, 100-year-old fossils, of what was thought to be shark fins, had been lying inside one of the drawers in the Booth Museum of Natural History in Brighton, England. Plying among these fossils one day, Roy Smith made the astounding discovery that the bones belong to a species of prehistoric flying reptiles.
    Producer/AuthorAthena Yenko
    URLhttps://www.ibtimes.com/fossil-shark-inside-drawer-turns-out-be-mysterious-flying-reptile-remains-3080194
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleFossil shark turns in to mystery pterosaur
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletEarth News, Earth Science, Energy Technology, Environment News
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    Date11/11/20
    DescriptionPalaeontologists have made a surprising discovery while searching through 100-year-old fossil collections from the UK - a new mystery species of pterosaur, unlike anything seen before.
    URLhttps://www.terradaily.com/reports/Fossil_shark_turns_in_to_mystery_pterosaur_999.html
    PersonsRoy Smith
  • TitleFossil Shark Turns In To Mystery Pterosaur
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletThe Archaeology News Network
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryGreece
    Date10/11/20
    DescriptionPalaeontologists have made a surprising discovery while searching through 100-year-old fossil collections from the UK - a new mystery species of pterosaur, unlike anything seen before.
    URLhttps://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2020/11/fossil-shark-turns-in-to-mystery.html
    PersonsRoy Smith

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

  • TitleShark fossil turns into mysterious pterosaur
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletGlobedia Guatemala
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryGuatemala
    Date13/11/20
    DescriptionA new species of pterosaur has been discovered by paleontologist Roy Smith of the University of Portsmouth, while searching 100-year-old collections of fossils in the UK
    URLgt.globedia.com/fosil-tiburon-convierte-misterioso-pterosaurio
    PersonsRoy Smith