A pterodactyl with some especially weird teeth was recently discovered in Southern Germany, shedding new light on the behaviors and diet of these ancient flying reptiles.
With nearly 500 hooked teeth, new research published in the German journal Paläontologische Zeitschrift describes Balaenognathus maeuseri, a pterosaur (Greek for "winged lizard"), as stalking through prehistoric swamps and using freaky denticles to filter-feed on shrimp, small crustaceans and other tasty snacks. Some 152 million years ago, during the Jurassic age, this B. maeuseri died near a village in Wattendorf, Bavaria, a German region best known for its castles, alpine landscape and beer. But Bavaria also boasts a fantastic fossil trove in the laminated limestone of its basin. The limestone is called laminated, or sometimes plattenkalk, because it is layered in flat sheets that intricately preserve fossils in incredible detail.
