A new species of pterosaur with a wingspan of nearly 4.8 meters has been found in Angola, as per a report by the Southern Methodist University in Texas.
"This new discovery gives us a much better understanding of the ecological role of the creatures that were flying above the waves of Bentiaba, on the west coast of Africa, approximately 71.5 million years ago," said one of the paleontologists who made the discovery.
These pterosaurs, named Epapatelo otyikokolo, are believed to have been piscivorous and are thought to have lived a lifestyle similar to that of today's large sea birds
"They likely spent time flying above open-water environments and diving to feed, like gannets and brown pelicans do today," a scientist said. "Epapatelo otyikokolo was not a small animal, and its wingspan was approximately 4.8 m, or nearly 16 feet."
The first part of the name "Epapatelo" is a translation of the Angolan Nhaneca dialect word for "wing," while the second part "otyikokolo" means "lizard." Nhaneca is an indigenous language spoken in Angola's Namibe province on Angola's Atlantic coast, where the fossils were discovered.
The pterosaur fossils date back to the Late Cretaceous, 100.5 - 66 million years ago.
The first pterosaur discovery was made in Italy in 1784. Cosimo Collini, who found the ancient reptiles, initially thought pterosaurs were aquatic animals rather than flying ones. This view was held until the 19th century, when French natural scientist Georges Cuvier found that pterosaurs actually flew.