More than 100 million years ago, a flying reptile called a pterosaur flew over the oceans hunting squid and fish.
Much more recently, one of its wing bones was discovered in Brazil, transformed over the eons into a fossil made of a complex assemblage of different chemicals and minerals.
And in new research published in iScience, my colleagues and I found that the fossil bone still holds secrets of the creature’s life, including microscopic inner structures of its bones and molecular traces of its biology and diet.
A fossil treasure from Brazil
The fossil comes from the Romualdo Formation in the Araripe Basin of northeastern Brazil, one of the world’s most spectacular fossil deposits. The site has yielded exquisitely preserved fish, turtles, crocodile relatives, and pterosaurs.
Many fossils from the Romualdo Formation are preserved inside rounded rock nodules known as carbonate concretions. These mineral structures form shortly after burial, effectively sealing the remains from the environment. Think of them as natural time capsules.
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