BUENOS AIRES - Argentine scientists discovered a new species of a huge flying reptile dubbed The Dragon of Death, which lived alongside dinosaurs 86 millions of years ago, shedding fresh insight into a predator whose body was as long as a yellow school bus.
The new specimen of the ancient flying reptile, or pterosaur, measured around nine meters long and researchers say it predated birds as one of the first creatures on Earth to use wings to hunt its prey from prehistoric skies.
The fossils of the newly coined Thanatosdrakon amaru were discovered by a team of paleontologists in the Andes Mountains in Argentina's western Mendoza province. They found that rocks preserving the reptiles' remains dated back 86 million years to the Cretaceous period.
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The estimated date means that these fearsome flying reptiles lived at least 20 million years before an asteroid impact on what is now Mexico's Yucatan peninsula wiped out about three-quarters of life on the planet about 66 million years ago.
In an interview over the weekend, project leader Leonardo Ortiz said that the fossil's never-before- seen characteristics required a new genus and species name, with the latter combining ancient Greek words for death thanatos and dragon drakon It seemed appropriate to name it that way, said Ortiz. The reptile would likely have been a frightening sight. Researchers, who published their study in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research last April, said that the fossil's huge bones classify the new species as the largest pterosaur yet discovered in South America and one of the largest found anywhere.
Ortiz said that we don't have a current record of any close relative that even has a body modification similar to these beasts.