If you ’ve ever wondered who would win in a calamary vs pterosaur fight , a 150 - million - year - old fogey has revealed that in one cause at least , the pterosaur failed to clench the winnings , and even lead a tooth in its seek dupe .
The dodo reveals in unprecedented item the perfectly preserved soft - bodied cephalopodan – itself unusual to find in the dodo book – with a tooth that has been identified as belonging to the pterosaurRhamphorhynchus muensteriembedded in it . While it ’s not known if the ancient squid died from this attack , it is the first unmediated evidence of a give way predation attempt of a pterosaur on a cephalopod .
Reporting in the journalScientific Reports , researchers from the UK ’s University of Leicester and Germany ’s Ruhr - University Bochum describe how essential this grounds is for reconstruct long - gone food webs .
The fossil was found in the Late JurassicSolnhofen Archipelagoin Bavaria , Germany , a web site famous for bring out the depression of soft - bodied creatures like sea jellies that would normally break up leaving no trace , thanks to the diffuse carbonate clay - turn - limestone of the former lagoon . In fact , this exceptionally preservedPlesioteuthis subovataspecimen even includes the fossilized ink Sauk and blackened ink .
There is evidence thatRhamphorhynchusincluded cushy - bodied squid in their dieting as remains of them have been see infossilized pterosaur stomachsbefore . However , it was not known how the pterosaur see the squid , were they vulture or scavenger ? Did they skim over over the piddle and pluck their target , or plunge into the water system like today ’s gannet ?
The squid was fully grown and measures 28.5 centimeters ( 11.2 inches ) , while the declamatory known specimen ofR. muensterimeasured 1.26 meters ( 4.1 feet ) long with a wingspan of 1.81 meters ( 5.9 feet ) , so it ’s not difficult to imagine the pterosaur predating on the much small squid . R. muensterialso had a prankish curved , acute , beak - like jaw full of forward - facing , acerate leaf - like dentition , splendid for snap up Pisces .
Analyzing the fossil and the slant of the tooth , the researchers cogitate the pterosaur attacked the calamary at , or close to , the water ’s surface . This , they say , indicate that it plucked its quarry from the surface , perhaps even resting on the surface like modern gulls , rather than dive or skimming . R. muensteri’sshort torso and ramification are features catch in other pterosaurs known to have been able to launch from urine .
This , they conclude , bear witness it was potential a predatory hunter rather than a scavenger , that hunted near the airfoil of the water . Several fossilsfound antecedently that showR. muensteriin the jaws of predatory fish corroborate this , they say , as for an aquatic creature to catch an aerial brute in its jaws , the interaction had to happen near the water ’s surface .
flying reptile are occasionally erroneously called flying dinosaurs , but were not dinosaurs at all . They also were n’t the precursor of birds either . or else , they were fly reptile . Both dinosaurs and pterosaurs shared a common ancestor , but our modern birds descend from small feathery dinosaur , not these ancient " fly lizards " .
