Portsmouth student discovers new species of flying reptile      Â

A UNIVERSITY of Portsmouth academic has discovered a new species of flying reptile which used to inhabit our skies during the Jurassic period.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Dec 2018, 09:17 BST
Updated 10th Jan 2019, 11:10 BST
University of PortsmouthUniversity of Portsmouth
University of Portsmouth

  

PhD student, Dr Michael O'Sullivan, has named the reptile Klobiodon Rochei.

Dr O'Sullivan has described the flying reptiles as being armed with long teeth and claws and having a wingspan of two metres.

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Dr O'Sullivan, who is  part of the university's school of earth and environmental sciences, said: '˜It's large fangs would have meshed together to form a toothy cage, from which little could escape once Klobiodon had gotten a hold of it.'

Some 200 fossils of flying reptiles '“ pterosaurs '“ have been collected over the last two centuries from  Stonesfield Slate, but Dr O'Sullivan believes their significance has been long neglected by palaeontologists.

'˜The excellent marine reptiles and ammonites of the UK's Jurassic heritage are widely known, but we celebrate our Jurassic flying reptiles far less. The Stonesfield pterosaurs should be recognised as they capture a significant time in  reptile evolution,' added Dr O'Sullivan. 

 

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