Artist’s rendering of Tupandactylus navigans Victor Beccari
A 100-million-year-old fossil that was confiscated by Brazilian police during a raid in Sāo Paolo has been identified as one of the strangest pterosaurs ever to have lived, with a 50-centimetre-tall head crest that would have made it difficult for the winged reptile to fly.
Pterosaurs, distant relatives of the dinosaurs, were a very successful and diverse group. The smallest had wingspans of 25 centimetres, while the largest had wingspans of 10 metres. The so-called tapejarid pterosaurs were neither the largest nor the smallest of the pterosaurs, but they did have…
