University of Edinburgh Ph.D. student Natalia Jagielska poses for a photo with the world's largest Jurassic pterosaur unearthed on the Isle of Skye. Jagielska is the author of a new scientific paper describing the find.
The National Museum of Scotland said the fossil of the pterosaur, more popularly known as pterodactyls, is the largest of its kind ever discovered from the Jurassic period. The reptile had an estimated wingspan of more than 2.5 meters , similar to that of an albatross, the museum said. "Pterosaurs preserved in such quality are exceedingly rare and are usually reserved to select rock formations in Brazil and China. And yet, an enormous superbly preserved pterosaur emerged from a tidal platform in Scotland," said Natalia Jagielska, a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh who is the author of a new scientific paper describing the find.