World`s largest pterosaur footprint found in Korea

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- An enormous fossil footprint of an ancient flying
reptile was found in one of South Korea's southeastern provinces Monday, a find
local scholars say may be the largest footprint of the species in the world.
The 354-millimeter long and 173-millimeter wide footprint of a pterosaur was
found during a research outing by scholars with the Cultural Heritage Institute
in Gunwi, North Gyeongsang Province, the institute said in a press release.
The footprint, the fifth of a pterosaur to be found in South Korea, is presumed
to date back more than 90 million years and shows three asymmetric toes, a
representative feature of the ancient species, scholars said.
The world's largest fossil footprint of a pterosaur so far measured 330
millimeters in length and 110 millimeters in width. The fossil, dubbed
Haenamichnus, was named after Haenam, a South Korean provincial town in which it
was found.
Footprints of pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period are vary rare, found only
among nine countries in the world including South Korea and Spain, according to
Seoul's Cultural Heritage Institute.
The institute plans to report the fossil to the 69th Annual Meeting of the
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, which will be hosted by the University of
Bristol, England, later this month.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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