Fossils of extinct species from our planet’s ancient past are still being uncovered around the world. Researchers working in the Caiuá desert of Brazil have published a study about their discovery of remains of pterosaurs, a new species of ancient flying reptile, closely related to dinosaurs.

Fossils of extinct species from our planet’s ancient past are still being uncovered around the world.
Researchers working in the Caiuá desert of Brazil have published a study outlining their discovery of pterosaur remains, a new species of ancient flying reptile, closely related to dinosaurs.

Fossils of more than 47 specimens have been recovered from the thousands of bones in an old lake deposit near the city of Cruzeiro do Oeste located in the southern state of Parana, Brazil.

According to the fossil evidence, the pterosaurs had a wingspan of between two point one and seven point seven feet.

Among the remains were adult and juvenile pterosaurs, so experts were able to learn more about the reptiles that lived around 75 to 87 million years ago.

Authors of the study detailing the discovery wrote: “The presence of three main levels of accumulation in a section of less than one meter suggests that this region was home to pterosaur populations for an extended period of time.”

Other pterosaur traits that are described by the study include the possibility that they were social animals that learned to fly at a young age.