VOA科学技术2024--Remains of a Rare Flying Reptile Dug Up in Australia

Millions of years ago, a huge and powerful hunter flew in the skies above a former sea in what is now Australia. Its large mouth and long, pointed¹ teeth captured fish and other sea life.

Scientists in Australia recently announced the discovery of fossil remains² of the animal, named Haliskia peterseni. They said the fossils are the most complete remains of any pterosaur ever unearthed³ in Australia. The creature lived alongside dinosaurs⁴ during the Cretaceous Period, the researchers said.

Haliskia means "sea phantom⁵." The researchers said Haliskia's wings measured 4.6 meters across from end to end. The animal lived about 100 million years ago.

"The Eromanga Sea was a massive inland sea covering large parts of Australia when this pterosaur was alive," said Adele Pentland, a doctoral student in paleontology at Curtin University in Australia. Pentland was the lead writer of a study, which appeared recently in the publication Scientific Reports.

The thin bones of pterosaurs do not easily turn into fossils. For Haliskia, only 22 percent of the skeleton was unearthed. The bones included complete lower jaws⁷, part of the upper jaw⁶, throat bones, 43 teeth, vertebrae, ribs⁹, bones from both wings and part of one leg.

Pentland said the researchers believe the muscle in the animal's mouth, called the tongue, was very strong, based on the length of its throat bones.

"In many other pterosaurs, the throat bones are 30 percent or 60 percent the length of the lower jaw, whereas in Haliskia the throat bones are 70 percent the length of the lower jaw," Pentland said.

Haliskia is a little larger and older, by about 5 million years, than the closely related Australian pterosaur Ferrodraco. Scientists announced its discovery in 2019. Haliskia's remains are more complete than those of Ferrodraco.

Both animals belong to a pterosaur group called anhanguerians known from remains found in China, the United States, Brazil, Britain, Spain and Morocco. The three other named Australian pterosaurs are known only from partial jaw bones, Pentland said.

The Haliskia individual's body ended up buried under sediment¹⁰ at the bottom of the Eromanga Sea.

Pterosaurs were the first of three vertebrate groups to fly, appearing about 230 million years ago. Birds appeared about 150 million years ago and bats appeared around 50 million years ago.

Pentland said the Haliskia discovery is also important because for many years experts believed Australia had very few fossils from the age of dinosaurs.

Words in This Story

fossil -n. the mineralized remains of an animal or plant that died long ago

pterosaur -n. a kind of ancient reptile¹¹ that had wings and is believed to have been able to fly

paleontology -n. the study of ancient fossils and life

vertebrae -n. individual bones that form a backbone¹²

rib⁸ -n. one of a group of bones that form the middle part of the body in many animals

sediment -n. very fine pieces of rock that settle to the bottom of water that, over time, form a solid level of rock

1 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

4 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

6 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

7 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

8 rib   

n.肋骨，肋状物

参考例句：

• He broke a rib when he fell off his horse.他从马上摔下来折断了一根肋骨。
• He has broken a rib and the doctor has strapped it up.他断了一根肋骨，医生已包扎好了。

9 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

10 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

11 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

12 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。