News Paleontology

This big-headed pterosaur may have preferred walking over flying

A long neck and an oversize noggin mostly grounded one ancient reptile, fossil suggests

illustration of Tupandactylus navigans eating a palm plant in the forest

This reconstruction shows Tupandactylus navigans, a type of pterosaur with a large crest on the top of its head. The ancient reptile had a long neck, which combined with its oversize head, could have made sustained flying difficult.

V. Beccari

By Nikk Ogasa

- More than 2 years ago

In 2013, a police raid at Santos Harbor in Brazil recovered about 3,000 smuggled fossils, including the most intact specimen of a type of big-headed pterosaur ever found.