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

_______________________________ 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

_____________________________ 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

___________________________ 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