Unknown Hell Dragon Appears in America

(NLDO) - A new species of the prehistoric monster genus Infernodrakon, or Hell Dragon, has been identified from a specimen in the state of Montana, USA.

A prehistoric monster previously unknown anywhere else in the world has been identified by American scientists from a 67-million-year-old fossil in Montana. It is a member of the famous Hell Dragon pterosaur genus.

Portrait of Infernodrakon hastacollis, a newly identified member of the Hell Dragon genus - Photo illustration: Jun-Hyeok Jang

The new species was named Infernodrakon hastacollis, with "hastacollis" meaning "spear-necked", combining the name of a Roman spear and Latin.

Meanwhile, the genus name Infernodrakon means Hell Dragon, a combination of "Inferno" which is hell in English - Italian - Latin and "drakon" which is dragon in Greek.

The name somewhat describes the monstrous appearance of the prehistoric monster, a fearsome flying predator that lived during the Cretaceous period.

According to Sci-News , the new species is a member of the pterosaur (winged lizard) family Azhdarchidae, which includes the largest flying monsters that ever existed in the world.

The largest members of the family Azhdarchidae have wingspans of up to 9–12 m.

The new Montana Hell Dragon is a small species in this family, but its wingspan is still 3-4 meters, much larger than an eagle.

Its representative specimen - a cervical vertebra - was unearthed in 2002 from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, USA, and was originally assigned to the pterosaur genus Quetzalcoatlus, another genus of the family Azhdarchidae.

However, a research team led by paleontologist Henry Thomas of Idaho State University (USA) recently conducted a laser scan of the specimen and found that it was a new species and fit more into the Hell Dragon genus than the Quetzalcoatlus genus.

According to Dr. Thomas, many Azhdarchidae pterosaur specimens have been found from fossil deposits in the Maastrichtian geological layer in North America, which is the last period of the Cretaceous period. Most of them have been classified as Quetzalcoatlus.

So this new discovery suggests that North American pterosaurs during this period may have been much more diverse than previously thought, according to the study, which was just published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/loai-rong-dia-nguc-chua-tung-biet-xuat-hien-o-my-19625031909431713.htm