A team of paleontologists have unearthed fossils of a 120-million-year-old winged reptile in northeast China which resembles the creature 'Ikran' from American epic science fiction film 'Avatar'.
Christened as 'Ikrandraco avatar', the new pterosaur was found in Liaoning Province by a team led by vertebrate paleontologist Wang Xiaolin, a statement from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said.
This discovery was published yesterday in the journal Scientific Reports.
Following the fossil analysis, the team inferred that the species had sharp teeth, a flat and elongated skull and a blade-like bulge of bone on the lower jaw -- features similar to that of 'Ikran' in the James Cameron's blockbuster.
It also has a throat pouch like that of a pelican, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
However, this pterosaur, with a wingspan of 1.5 meter, is smaller than its cinematic look-alike.
Pterosaurs, which are linked to dinosaurs, lived between 225 million and 65 million years ago.
The creature 'Ikran' was fashioned after the largest known pterosaur with a wingspan up to 12 meters.
Two fossil sets of the species were found -- a rare feat in pterosaur discoveries -- in a geological formation rich in fossils from the early Cretaceous era 120 million years ago.
The creature's skull features are unknown among the pterosaur species, Wang said, adding, its sharp, semicircular mandible could reduce air resistance.
The animal flew close to the water surface with its jaw crest cutting through the water when hunting and its throat pouch might serve as a store for its catch, Wang added.
