"Amazing Productive" Green Sahara
/ b" t+ e& N; j6 t These winged creatures' light and flimsy bones seldom survive as fossils, and examples from Africa are especially rare.! d% t* k: ?# N( H7 E1 {+ z: m
- X( z _( @2 B "All the pterosaur material that has ever been found in Africa could fit on a very small table," he said.
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But Ibrahim and colleagues got lucky during their expedition: They found similarly aged fossil fragments that belonged two other previously unknown and unrelated pterosaurs." h* i' m! {# y9 ^; `
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These discoveries suggest that several different pterosaur species lived side by side, eating different prey in the ancient river delta.
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}0 q# U7 h6 e/ s7 J For instance, one of the two yet-to-be described species had long, thin teeth that may have been used for grabbing fish while gliding over water.9 y3 V A4 s4 K# x9 I# Q1 T. ?' c* u
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Surrounded by dry land, this wet ecosystem also supported diverse forms of crocodiles and dinosaurs, Ibrahim noted.
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"It was such an amazingly productive environment," he said. |