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new pterosaur: Arthurdactylus conan-doylei



Eberhard Frey and David M. Martill recently named a new species of
pterosaur.  Its name, Arthurdactylus conan-doylei, honors Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, author of _The Lost World_ (which featured the survival of
pterosaurs, among other things, on a plateau in Amazonia).

Arthurdactylus is a possible ornithocheirid, with an estimated wingspan of
4.6 m (over 15 feet, for the metrically disinclined).  No skull has been
found.

Source:
Frey, E. and Martill, D.M.  1994.  A new pterosaur from the Crato Formation
(Lower Cretaceous, Aptian) of Brazil.  Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und
Palaontologie, Abhandlungen, 194: 379-412.

                                
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.                                   
tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov
Vertebrate Paleontologist in Exile                  Phone:      703-648-5280
U.S. Geological Survey                                FAX:      703-648-5420
Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy
MS 970 National Center
Reston, VA  22092
U.S.A.