A discovery in northeastern Utah this past week has pushed the timeline of flying dinosaurs back nearly 65 million years, making the fossilized flying pterodactyl found there the oldest fossilized skeleton of the species found to date. Geologists at Brigham Young University say that Triassic period pterosaurs are extremely rare to begin with.

According to USA Today: "Until Britt’s discovery, there were only 30 known Triassic pterodactyl specimens anywhere on Earth, most of them just a single bone. Also, none lived in deserts, which means that early pterosaurs could live in varied environments and were widely distributed around the planet. Most other specimens have been discovered in the Alps."

This discovery comes just a few months after the finding of the largest dinosaur foot to date in Wyoming. Historically, the basin of the Rocky Mountains, including Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho, has been a paleontological dream, with many intact dinosaur skeletons being discovered.

 

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