KUMAMOTO, Japan (Kyodo) -- A fossil found nearly three decades ago in southwestern Japan's Kumamoto prefecture has been identified to be a previously unclassified genus and species of pterosaur, or prehistoric flying reptile, a local dinosaur museum said Tuesday.
Nipponopterus mifunensis is the first pterosaur to be formally named as a distinct species based on the fossil. Because it is the first known member of a new genus group of closely related species, the fossil is expected to offer important clues for studying the evolutionary process of pterosaurs.
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