The fossilised remains of a prehistoric creature discovered in western Queensland in 2021 have been identified as belonging to a new species of pterosaur.
The formidable flying reptile, which lived alongside the dinosaurs, has been named Haliskia peterseni.
“With a wingspan of approximately 4.6 metres, Haliskia would have been a fearsome predator," says curator at the Kronosaurus Korner museum Kevin Petersen, who found the bones.
Haliskia peterseni lived around 100 million years ago when much of central western Queensland was underwater.
Based on the shape of its skull, arrangement of teeth and the shoulder bone, a research team – led by Adele Pentland, PhD student from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences – identified the specimen as an anhanguerian pterosaur, a group of flying lizards that lived across the world.
Thanks to Petersen's careful preparation, the remains – which include the lower jaws, the tip of the upper jaw, 43 teeth, vertebrae, ribs, bones from both wings and part of a leg – form the most complete specimen of any pterosaur ever discovered in Australia, says Pentland.
"Also present are very thin and delicate throat bones, indicating a muscular tongue, which helped during feeding on fish and cephalopods,” Pentland adds.
Haliskia peterseni joins a number of other significant marine fossil specimens on display at Kronosaurus Korner, including Kronosaurus queenslandicus, the largest marine reptile, the most complete plesiosaur from Australia and bones from the plesiosaur Eromangasaurus and the ichthyosaur Platypterygius.
Petersen says this latest discovery was an exciting boost for science, education and regional tourism.
“I’m thrilled that my discovery is a new species, as my passion lies in helping shape our modern knowledge of prehistoric species,” Petersen says.
The full study ‘Haliskia peterseni, a new anhanguerian pterosaur from the late Early Cretaceous of Australia’ was published in the journal Scientific Reports/Springer Nature.
Main image: illustration of Haliskia peterseni. Credit: Gabriel Ugueto
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