Monday, October 12, 2015

October unleashed. Sericipterus

 With a wingspan of at least a hundred and seventy-three centimetres Sericipterus was big for a basal pterosaur.It should be realised that the name which translates to‭ '‬silk wing‭' ‬is not a reference to the appearance of the wings,‭ ‬but the fact that Sericipterus comes from an area that had the old‭ '‬silk road‭'‬.‭ ‬The Silk Road is a trade route that was used to supply the Middle East and Western Europe with things like silk goods that could not be cultivated where they were,‭ ‬and is a name particularly used when historians talk about the ancient world.
       Sericipterus had three small crests on the top of its skull the upper most of which,‭ ‬the parietal crest,‭ ‬is of particular interest as it is the first time that such a crest has been seen in one the‭ ‬basal rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs.‭ ‬Only the teeth in the upper jaw are well known with only the front pair of teeth in the lower jaw being preserved.‭ ‬Many of the teeth are more fang like and are recurved,‭ ‬meaning that they point towards the back of the mouth.‭ ‬These teeth as well as an inland environment have to the proposition that Sericipterus hunted for small animals.

No comments:

Post a Comment