Fish that swallowed a pterosaur that swallowed a fish

Colin Barras, environment news editor

(Image: Eberhard Frey, Helmut Tischlinger/PLoS One)

Dining can be a dangerous business. About 150 million years ago, a winged pterosaur called Rhamphorhynchus swooped down to pluck an unsuspecting fish out of the Jurassic ocean. Before the reptile could enjoy its meal, though, a much larger fish - Aspidorhynchus - grabbed the pterosaur and pulled it beneath the waves.

We're not done yet, though: before the predatory fish could tuck into its flying snack, it too somehow managed to die - perhaps choking on what was clearly an awkward meal. All three unfortunate beasts then sank to settle on the sea floor, where they fossilised.

The impressive find was unearthed in 2009 in Eichst?tt, a town in southern Germany, and has now been described by Eberhard Frey and Helmut Tischlinger of the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe. It comes from the Solnhofen limestone, already famous as the final resting place of every specimen of early bird Archaeopteryx yet found.

Journal reference: PLoS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031945

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/1d70c05f/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cshortsharpscience0C20A120C0A30Cfish0Ethat0Eswallowed0Ea0Epterosau0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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