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