Apparently there were even more dinosaurs flying the fearsome skies.
“Scientists have discovered three new species of flying reptiles that lived in the Sahara 100 [million] years ago,” according to the Guardian. The winged, fish-eating reptiles, called pterosaurs, inhabited prehistoric Morocco — back when the desert was an ocean.
The discovery was made by David Martill, a paleontologist at the University of Portsmouth in England. Martill has published a study outlining his findings.
“The new finds show that African pterosaurs were quite similar to those found on other continents,” a university spokeswoman told the Guardian. “These flying predators soared above a world dominated by predators, including crocodile-like hunters and carnivorous dinosaurs. Interestingly, herbivores such as sauropods and ornithischian dinosaurs are rare.”
“Many of the predators, including the toothed pterosaurs, preyed on a superabundance of fish.”
“We are in a golden age for discovering pterodactyls,” Martill said. “This year alone we have discovered three new species and we are only into March.”
The dive bombing dinos had wingspans of between nine to 12 feet and had jaws full of long, spiky teeth.