A fossil of a flying reptile from 89 million years ago found in Texas may be the earliest North American example of a prehistoric Pteranodon, scientists say.
Researchers at Texas A&M University say the fossil is the first of its kind found as far south at Texas, where it probably flew over a fast ancient sea.
Previously, Pteranodon bones have been found in Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming, a university release said Tuesday.
Pterosaurs such as Pteranodon lived at a time when a massive ancient sea cut across the central United States, splitting North America in half from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
If the fossil specimen is confirmed as a Pteranodon, SMU paleontologist Timothy S. Myers said, it would be the oldest one in North America by 1 million to 2 million years, and the second oldest in the world. An older specimen previously was identified in England.
Pterosaurs were alive from the Late Triassic, more than 200 million years ago, to the Late Cretaceous, evolving from small-bodied creatures to some of the largest animals to ever fly through Earth's skies, Myers said.
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