Paleontologists have discovered the fossilized remains of a pterosaur from 76 million years ago—bearing a bite mark from an ancient relative of the crocodile.
The flying reptile, represented by a vertebra from the neck, was found in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada, in July 2023.
The revelation of a 0.16-inch-wide tooth mark on the neck bone, the researchers said, provides a special insight into predator-prey dynamics of the Cretaceous Period.
“Pterosaur bones are very delicate—so finding fossils where another animal has clearly taken a bite is exceptionally uncommon,” lead author Caleb Brown of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta, said in a statement.
“This specimen being a juvenile makes it even more rare.”
According to the researchers, the punctured vertebra appears to have come from a young pterosaur of the family Azhdarchidae.
The …