Pterosaur bone fragment discovered at Stevns Klint in Denmark

A tiny fragment of bone discovered at Stevns Klint near Holtug in East Zealand has made history in Denmark. This find marks the first evidence of a pterosaur in what is now known as Denmark, according to a press release from Østsjællands Museum. The fragment, measuring just five millimeters in length and 1.3 millimeters in thickness, was uncovered by curator Sten Lennart Jakobsen from Geomuseum Faxe.

“I never imagined finding a piece of pterosaur during my over 50 years of fossil collecting at Stevns Klint. It felt like winning the lottery,” Jakobsen remarked. He immediately recognized something unusual about the bone fragment, noting its hollow structure and thin walls, just 0.1 millimeter thick. These features are typically associated with birds and extinct pterosaurs, the museum stated.

Paleontologist Bent Lindow, who specializes in fossilized birds, examined the bone and concluded it is a part of a pterosaur’s wing finger. Museum inspector Jesper Milàn expressed his excitement, calling it the most significant find at Stevns Klint in his 15 years of work there. While he believed pterosaurs must have existed in the area since they were widespread globally, it is only now that any remains have been found in Danish chalk.

The discovery is particularly intriguing as it was made within the top layer of chalk, indicating that this pterosaur lived within 50,000 years of the end of the Cretaceous period, approximately 66 million years ago, and was among the last of its kind on Earth.

The bone fragment will be on display this Saturday during Fossil Day at Geomuseum Faxe. There will be a digital microscope to help visitors view the small find and a model of a pterosaur provided by the company 10Tons to illustrate its possible appearance. Pterosaurs first appeared during the Triassic period around 245 million years ago and dominated the skies until their extinction alongside the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period. They varied greatly in size, from sparrow-sized to giants with wingspans exceeding 12 meters.