The flying reptile belonged to a group of early pterosaurs that roamed the earth 160 million years ago. The beast's fossil remains were discovered by Osvaldo Rojas, director of the Atacama Desert Museum of Natural History and Culture, and then further investigated by scientists at the University of Chile. Details of the discovery, the first linking such creatures to the southern hemisphere, were published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. Chile's vast Atacama Desert, once largely submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean, is now a moonscape of sand and stone. The region, parts of which haven't seen rain for decades, is a hot spot for fossil discoveries, with many remains untouched in remote areas not far beneath the desert surface.

Source: Dhaka Tribune September 11, 2021 13:52 UTC