Newly found dinosaur had wingspan the size of a car

Published on Wednesday 3 December 2008 21:47

A NEW species of pterosaur which had a wingspan the size of a family car has been uncovered by scientists.

A researcher at the University of Portsmouth has identified the new species, the largest of its kind, which would have flown in the skies above Brazil 115 million years ago.

Mark Witton was able to estimate from a partial skull fossil that the pterosaur would have had a wingspan of five metres (16.4ft) and would have been more than one metre (39 inches) tall at the shoulder.

The fossil is the first example of a chaoyangopteridae, a group of toothless pterosaurs, to be found outside China and is the largest one yet discovered.

Mr Witton said: "Some of the previous examples we have from this family in China are just 60cm (2ft) long – as big as the skull of the new species.

"Put simply, it dwarfs any chaoyangopterid we've seen before by miles."

Mr Witton has christened the species Lacusovagus, meaning lake wanderer, after the large body of water in which the remains were buried.