A recently discovered ancient flying pterosaur reptile has been named after the flying dragons from the movie ‘Avatar.’ Ikrandraco avatar is a new species of pterosaur that was analyzed by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences after being found in the Liaoning province of northeastern China.
A recently discovered ancient flying pterosaur reptile has been named after the dragons from the movie ‘Avatar.’
Ikrandraco avatar is a new species of pterosaur that was analyzed by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences after being found in the Liaoning province of northeastern China.
Ikran is the name of the flying creatures from the movie ‘Avatar’, and draco is Latin for dragon.
The flying pterosaurs reportedly had specially shaped throat sacs for storing food like a pelican, or extensible skin like an ostrich that allowed them to swallow their prey whole.
Although they lived and died during the Age of Dinosaurs, pterosaurs actually belong to a separate species of flying reptiles.
They were the largest animals that have ever flown with a wingspan measuring up to 39 feet.
The fossils discovered most recently include two partial Ikrandraco skeletons that experts say date back to around 120 million years ago to the Early Cretaceous Period.
Fossil evidence of the pterosaur shows that it had some unique features like an elongated skull, and a crest bone on the lower jaw.
Researchers theorize that the pterosaur hunted for food while flying low over the water, so they could scoop up their prey.
