An illustration of Haliskia petersoni, the ‘demonic pelican' – credit Gabriel Ugueto, suppliedFossilized bones found in Australia have been identified as a new species of flying dinosaur—a “fearsome” predator that lived around 100 million years ago and had a 15-foot wingspan.
The bones, unearthed in western Queensland by museum creator Kevin Petersen in 2021, have been found to belong to a newly identified species of pterosaur, dubbed Haliskia peterseni, or “Peterson's phantom of the sea.”
A research team led by Ph.D. student Adele Pentland, of Curtin University, Australia, identified the specimen as a member of the group Ornithocheiromorpha, based on the shape of its skull, arrangement of teeth, and shape of the shoulder bone.
Ornithocheiromorpha was a group of pterosaurs known to have lived all over the world, including in what is now England, Brazil, Morocco, China, Spain, and the United States.
“Careful preparation by Mr Petersen has provided the remains of the most complete specimen of an [Ornithocheiromorph], and of any pterosaur, discovered in Australia to date,” said Pentland.
“With a wingspan of approximately 4.6 meters, Haliskia would have been a fearsome predator around 100 million years ago when much of central western Queensland was underwater,” she added, calling the pterosaur family a bunch of “demonic pelicans,” owing to their large bucket-like mouths for scooping up fish.
Haliskia peterseni joins several marine fossil specimens on display at the Kronosaurus Korner Museum in Queensland, where Petersen is the curator. Working at a public dig site near the town of Richmond, Peterson saw the bones and knew they were a pterosaur, ABC News AU reports.
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“The specimen includes complete lower jaws, 43 teeth, vertebrae, ribs, bones from both wings, and part of a leg,” said Pentland. “Also present are very thin and delicate throat bones, indicating a muscular tongue, which helped during feeding on fish and cephalopods.”
Queensland was part of the shallow sea mentioned earlier, and Pentland said the area where the pterosaur was found is renowned for fossil deposits.
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“I've never seen anything like it in Australia. In Richmond, really it's low effort, high reward,” Pentland said.
“I wouldn't be surprised if someone digging at these public dig pits outside of Richmond found something even more complete. I think it's only a matter of time.”
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