Lesson plan
Ceoptera
Ceoptera (meaning "mist wing") is an extinct genus of darwinopteran pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic Kilmaluag Formation of Scotland. The genus contains a single species, C. evansae, known from a partial skeleton discovered in 2006 and named in 2024. It is the only pterosaur from the Kilmaluag Formation and the second pterosaur named from Scotland, after Dearc in 2022. As one of the few pterosaur skeletons known from the Middle Jurassic, its discovery contributed to understanding the early diversification of the group. Belonging to Darwinoptera, a clade intermediate between early rhamphorhynchoid and later pterodactyloid pterosaurs, it would have been a small animal with a large head and long tail. It is distinguished from all other pterosaurs by two traits: the large size of a wavy flange on its coracoid and a prominent depression on the back extension of the ilium. It would have lived in a low-salinity lagoon ecosystem with wet and dry seasons.
Article summary
Ceoptera (meaning "mist wing") is an extinct genus of darwinopteran pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic Kilmaluag Formation of Scotland. The genus contains a single species, C. evansae, known from a partial skeleton discovered in 2006 and named in 2024. It is the only pterosaur from the Kilmaluag Formation and the second pterosaur named from Scotland, after Dearc in 2022. As one of the few pterosaur skeletons known from the Middle Jurassic, its discovery contributed to understanding the early diversification of the group. Belonging to Darwinoptera, a clade intermediate between early rhamphorhynchoid and later pterodactyloid pterosaurs, it would have been a small animal with a large head and long tail. It is distinguished from all other pterosaurs by two traits: the large size of a wavy flange on its coracoid and a prominent depression on the back extension of the ilium. It would have lived in a low-salinity lagoon ecosystem with wet and dry seasons.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
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