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Did the flying reptiles known as pterodactyls really die out in ancient times? Fact or hoax? |
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The last pterodactyl?
Did those magnificent flying reptiles, the pterodactyls, die out in ancient times? At face value, a report in The Illustrated London News of February 9, 1856 (p. 166) implies one was alive in the 1800s. The Illustrated London News report said workers were digging a railway tunnel in France in the 1850s, between Nancy and St. Dizier. They allegedly disturbed a strange creature as they gunpowdered a huge block of stone for the tunnel at Culmont, in Haute Marne. The report said that the creature had a long neck and sharp teeth, was livid black, looked like a bat, and its membranous skin was thick and oily. Witnesses reportedly said that when the creature reached the light it showed signs of life by shaking its wings, but it died soon after, uttering a hoarse cry. Its wingspan was 3.22 meters (about 10 feet 7 inches). Naturalist recognized it as pterodactylThe report continued by saying that a naturalist well versed in palaeontology “immediately recognized it as belonging to the genus Pterodactylus anas.” Because the living creature matched many fossils of pterodactyls, the naturalist dubbed it a “living fossil”. Interestingly, Native American mythology describes huge flying reptiles that match descriptions of pterodactyls. The native Americans call them Thunderbirds, but the description is almost identical. Why? Perhaps because when the first Americans arrived, pterodactyls were still alive.
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