Cimoliopterus dunni , the new Texas pterosaur fossil, is closely related to Cimoliopterus cuvieri , a native of England. For paleontologists, this 94-million-year-old marine flying reptile links prehistoric Texas with Great Britain, and suggests that the flow of genes occurred possibly before that date between the two populations, which later progressively separated as the North Atlantic was widening and the continents were moving away .
This kinship relationship between two continents seems to suggest that prehistoric creatures moved between North America and Britain during the Cretaceous, according to Southern Methodist University (SMU) paleontologist Timothy S. Myers. The Cimoliopterus cousins from Texas and England are different species, so some kind of evolutionary divergence had to occur, indicating that both populations were isolated from each other about 94 million years ago. However, the similarities between the two imply a small temporal divergence, so the genetic exchange must have occurred not long before that date.
According to Myers, “the Atlantic canalized the supercontinent Pangea, separating the continents and leaving a lot of isolated animal populations between them, interrupting the exchange of genes and fostering evolutionary divergence. Animals began to appear different and differentiated in each territory. Pterosaurs are special, because unlike land animals, they can fly and move over bodies of water. Newer specimens are especially good fliers. “
From the fossils discovered so far, we know that toothed pterosaurs were very abundant during the Cretaceous in Asia, Europe, and South America, but were rare in North America. The Texan Cimoliopterus dunni is only the third representative of North American toothed pterosaur, and like its other two relatives, it also comes from Texas, in an area near Dallas. However, Cimoliopterus dunni is closer in relation to the English Cimoliopterus cuvieri.
Imagen : Hillsman Jackson, high school
