Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 11, 2021
Cimoliopterus is a genus of pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous. The first known specimen, consisting of the front part of a snout, was discovered in Kent, England, and described as the new species Pterodactylus cuvieri in 1851. It was depicted as models in Crystal Palace Park in the 1850s. In 2013, the species was moved to a new genus, as Cimoliopterus cuvieri. In 2015, a snout discovered in Texas was named as C. dunni, a new species in the genus. C. cuvieri is estimated to have had a wingspan of 3.5 metres (11 ft), and C. dunni is thought to have been similar in size. Cimoliopterus would have been covered in pycnofibres (hair-like filaments), and had extensive wing-membranes, distended by long wing-fingers. They were probably adapted for long-distance oceanic soaring; their fossils have mainly been found in marine settings. They possibly fed while flying by dipping their long jaws into water and catching fish with their interlocking teeth. (Full article...)