Phosphatodraco is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the
Late Cretaceous in what is now Morocco. In 2000, a pterosaur specimen
consisting of five neck vertebrae was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun
phosphatic basin. The specimen was made the holotype of the new genus
and species Phosphatodraco mauritanicus in 2003. It is one of the last
known pterosaurs, and its neck is one of the best preserved among the
azhdarchids. Due to the fragmentary nature of the holotype vertebrae, it
is unclear how Phosphatodraco is distinguished from other azhdarchids
and how large it was: it may have had a wingspan of either 4 m (13 ft)
or 5 m (16 ft). Its neck may have been 865 mm (2 ft 10 in) long. It
would have had a proportionally long neck, small body, and long limbs,
compared to other pterosaurs. The diversity in pterosaur taxa in the
Ouled Abdoun Basin, including Phosphatodraco, right before the
Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event suggests the extinction of
pterosaurs happened abruptly.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphatodraco>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1859:
British naturalist Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species
was first published, and sold out its initial print run on the first
day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species>
1941:
The Holocaust: The Theresienstadt Ghetto was founded as a
waystation to Nazi extermination camps and a "retirement settlement" for
elderly and prominent Jews to mislead their communities about the Final
Solution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresienstadt_Ghetto>
1971:
After collecting a ransom payout of $200,000, D. B. Cooper
(depicted) parachuted out of the rear stairway of the airplane he had
hijacked over the Pacific Northwest and disappeared.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper>
2015:
A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft was shot down by a
Turkish fighter jet after the former allegedly strayed into Turkish
airspace and ignored warnings to change course.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Russian_Sukhoi_Su-24_shootdown>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
apprise:
1. To make (someone or oneself) aware of some information; to inform, to
notify.
2. (rare) To formally impart (information) to someone; to advise, to
notify.
3. Synonym of appraise (“to determine the value or worth of
(something)”)
4. (specifically, Scotland, law) To put a price on (something) for the
purpose of sale; to appraise.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apprise>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The more we understand particular things, the more do we
understand God.
--Ethics Geometrically Demonstrated
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethics_%28Spinoza_book%29>