New giant pterosaur in online Naturwissenschaften:

[bh480@scn.org]

From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org

An online preview article (not yet officially in print) is 
available at the Naturwissenschaften website (all one 
line):
http://link.springer-ny.com/link/
service/journals/00114/contents/02/00307/

Buffetaut, Grigorescu & Csiki, 2002. A new giant pterosaur 
with a robust skull from the latest Cretaceous of Romania.

Abstract. A new giant pterosaur, Hatzegopteryx thambema, 
nov.gen., nov.sp., from the Maastrichtian Densu-Ciula 
Formation of Romania is remarkable for its very large size 
(estimated wing span 12 m) and for the robustness of its 
large skull, which may have been nearly 3 m long. The 
stout skull bones contrast with the usually thin and 
slender skull elements of other pterosaurs, and raise the 
question of how the weight of the skull was reduced in 
order to make flight possible. The answer probably lies in 
the very peculiar internal structure of the bones, which 
consists of a dense network of very thin trabeculae 
enclosing small alveoli. This structure is reminiscent of 
expanded polystyrene and, like it, probably combined 
strength with lightness.