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Our largest flying reptile
Researchers discover a ‘ dragon-like ’ creature that once commanded Queensland ’ s skies .
By Wade Zaglas
A team of University of Queensland researchers have analysed a fossil of a dragon-like reptile that soared above the inland sea that covered much of outback Queensland around 100 million years ago .
Known as a pterosaur , it was Australia ’ s largest flying reptile , with an estimated wingspan of seven metres . The fossil was uncovered in a quarry northwest of Richmond in 2011 by Len Shaw , a local fossicker “ scratching around ” the area for decades . The fossil of the species is now on display at Kronosaurus Korner in Richmond .
UQ PhD candidate Tim Richards , from the Dinosaur Lab in UQ ’ s School of Biological Sciences , led the research team that analysed a fossil of the creature ’ s jaw . The fossil was uncovered in Wanamara Country , close to Richmond in Northwest Queensland .
“ It ’ s the closest thing we have to a real-life dragon ,” Richards said .
“ The new pterosaur , which we named Thapunngaka shawi , would have been a fearsome beast , with a spear-like mouth and a wingspan around seven metres .
“ It was essentially just a skull with a long neck , bolted on a pair of long wings .
“ This thing would have been quite savage . “ It would have cast a great shadow over some quivering little dinosaurs who wouldn ’ t have heard them coming until it was too late .”
And that ’ s not surprising , considering Richards said Thapunngaka shawi ’ s skull would have been roughly one metre long and contained 40 teeth , allowing it to grasp large predatory fish that used to inhabit the region ’ s ancient Eromanga sea .
Despite their appearance and ability to fly , the PhD candidate said the species were highly dissimilar to present-day species that can fly .
" Even though pterosaurs could fly , they were nothing like birds , or even bats ," he said .
" Pterosaurs were a successful and diverse group of reptiles – the very first back-boned animals to take a stab at powered flight .”
Richards concluded that the Thapunngaka shawi was a newer group of pterosaurs known as anhanguerians . During the Age of Dinosaurs , the species inhabited all of earth ’ s continents .
Although they were “ perfectly adapted for powered flight ”, these pterosaurs had “ thinwalled and relatively hollow bones ”, making their fossilised remains rare to come across and often poorly preserved .
“ It ’ s quite amazing fossils of these animals exist at all ,” Richards said .
“ By world standards , the Australian pterosaur record is poor , but the discovery of Thapunngaka contributes greatly to
It was essentially just a skull with a long neck , bolted on a pair of long wings .
our understanding of Australian pterosaur diversity .”
The Thapunngaka shawi is the third type of anhanguerian pterosaur uncovered in Australia , with all three of the species hailing from western Queensland .
Co-author of the paper and Mr Richard ’ s PhD supervisor , Dr Steve Salisbury , was particularly intrigued by the massive bony crest found on Thapunngaka ’ s lower jaw , which was likely replicated on its upper jaw . “ These crests probably played a role in the flight dynamics of these creatures , and hopefully future research will deliver more definitive answers ,” Salisbury said .
The name of the new species was chosen to honour the First Nations peoples of the area where the fossil was found , using words that were once used in the language of the Wanamara Nation .
“ The genus name , Thapunngaka , incorporates thapun [ ta-boon ] and ngaka [ nga-ga ], the Wanamara words for ‘ spear ’ and ‘ mouth ’, respectively ,” Salisbury explained .
“ The species name , shawi , honours the fossil ’ s discoverer Len Shaw , so the name means ‘ Shaw ’ s spear mouth ’.”
A paper on the research conducted was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . ■
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