Pterosaur Ceoptera evansae: New species found in Scotland

Sometimes new discoveries take a long, long time to surface. Paleontologists first saw the bones of the new pterosaur Ceoptera evansae in 2006, during a field trip to the southwest coast of the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

They have since spent years carefully preparing the fossils, which remain almost entirely embedded in rock — "in matrix," as the scientists say — for analysis.

The find is only a partial skeleton, consisting of shoulders, wings, legs and backbone, but the scientists have said the bones belong to a single pterosaur.

The pterosaurs are thought to have been related to both dinosaurs and crocodiles. Typically small flying reptiles with long tails, they seem to have evolved into many varieties — this particular one belongs to a group called Darwinoptera.

But researchers have found it difficult to form a complete picture of pterosaurs since many of the finds up to now have been "isolated fragmentary remains," they wrote in their paper published Monday in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

'Distinctive features' compared to other pterosaur finds

This is only the fourth skeleton of a Middle Jurassic pterosaur to have been discovered, according to the researchers.

The ancient flying reptiles are more commonly associated with Eastern Asia. Finding Ceoptera evansae in Scotland "provides important new data" on the geographic range of Darwinoptera, they wrote.

After preparing the fossils but leaving them embedded in the rock, the researchers scanned them using microcomputed tomography and a form of X-ray. That allowed the scientists to make a guess at the pterosaur's phylogenetics. Phylogenetics is the study of the evolutionary development of species and their diversity within groups of related organisms.

Among five key findings, the first that stands out is that Ceoptera is a new species of Darwinopterus.

It had "distinctive features" compared to other finds that have been classified as belonging to the group: the formation of its breast and shoulder bones ("the sternal portion of the coracoid"), and the way its pelvis, its hips and legs were joined, allowing it to walk upright ("the postacetabular process of the ilium").

They also determined that Ceoptera evansae lived for at least 25 million years almost all over the planet.

Paul Barrett, a senior author on the paper based at the Natural History Museum in London, said in a press release that Ceoptera's appearance in the Middle Jurassic of the UK was "a complete surprise as most of its close relatives are from China."

The finding suggests that the group of flying reptiles appeared earlier than previously thought and "quickly gained an almost worldwide distribution," said Barrett.

Why is finding Ceoptera evansae significant?

Another lead author, Liz Martin-Silverstone, said in the same press release that Ceoptera evansae lived during "one of the most important periods of pterosaur evolution, and is also one in which we have some of the fewest specimens, indicating its significance."

Martin-Silverstone, a paleobiologist at the University of Bristol, said the fossils and their analysis bring us "one step closer to understanding where and when the more advanced pterosaurs evolved."

Ceoptera evansae gets the first part of its name from the Scottish Gaelic word "cheo," meaning mist or fog, and the Latin word "ptera," meaning wing. The second part, evansae, "honours British paleontologist Susan E. Evans for her years of scientific work, particularly on the Isle of Skye," said the researchers.

Pterosaurs died out about 66 million years ago, around the time when the dinosaurs went extinct. Because their bones were fragile, they left very few fossils behind.

Edited by: Derrick Williams