Dearc sgiathanach, a new pterosaur from Scotland

[ceratopsian]

A new and very large, well preserved pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Skye - hence the Gaelic name.

Open Access paper that even boasts a video abstract:

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)00135-X

[Faelrin]

And a new rhamphorhynchine pterosaur as well. Very interesting and amazing find.

[ceratopsian]

It even made the 6 pm BBC news tonight!  We even saw the lead palaeontologist showing us how it would have looked with a nice model with moveable wings and tail.

[GojiraGuy1954]

Very nice

[Halichoeres]

That's an interesting find. It was actually news to me that there were fossil-bearing rocks of this age in Scotland.

I wonder if this shiny new pterosaur will attract the companies of toy companies (I'm thinking CollectA especially), and if that reduces the likelihood that we'll see a good Rhamphorhynchus figure in the next few years.

[Sim]

This is a great find, I'm not aware of any other prehistoric animals from Scotland.  I wouldn't want to see it get a figure before Rhamphorhynchus gets a good figure.  As the paper mentions, Dearc is not as well preserved as Rhamphorhynchus and Rhamphorhynchus was used to fill in gaps of Dearc.  Rhamphorhynchus really deserves a good figure.

[Faelrin]

I agree with you @Sim and @Halichoeres. Been a long time coming for an updated Rhamphorhynchus. On that note I'd rather CollectA make either that or that Kunpengopterus species described last year before they get around to making this recently described one.

[stargatedalek]

Considering the size and relative wingspan are the only traits visible in life to separate Dearc and Rhamphorynchus, I certainly wouldn't be bothered by a company making either or. I can use them interchangeably depending on what size the figure is made in.

[Halichoeres]

Yeah, I'd rather have a Rhamphorhynchus than a Dearc, but I'd buy either to be honest. And @Sim Scotland has a wonderfully rich fossil record! It's just that all the things I know from there are Paleozoic. There are Silurian-Devonian rocks with birkeniids, and Carboniferous rocks with tetrapods like Westlothiana and stem-ratfishes like Akmonistion.