Haliskia
Haliskia was a flying reptile that soared over an ancient inland sea in Australia 100 million years ago. With a wingspan as wide as a car, it used its long, muscular tongue and curved teeth to catch slippery fish and squid. It is the most complete pterosaur skeleton ever found in Australia.12
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Fun facts
Haliskia is 22% complete, more than twice as complete as any other partial pterosaur skeleton from Australia.2
Its hyoid bone (the tongue bone) is 70% as long as its lower jaw, the highest ratio of any pterosaur known. This means Haliskia had a very strong, muscular tongue.1
The fossil was found in 2021 by Kevin Petersen, a museum curator, at a site called Dig Site 3 near Richmond, Queensland.12
Haliskia lived during the Albian age, about 106 to 100 million years ago, when much of Queensland was covered by a shallow inland sea.31
Its teeth are curved and interlock when the mouth closes, forming a trap that stopped fish from wriggling out.1
Haliskia belongs to a group called Anhangueria, which were pterosaurs with crests on their snouts and teeth that stuck out sideways.1
Most asked questions about Haliskia
?How big was Haliskia?
About 4.6 metres (15 feet) across the wings, which is about as wide as a small car.12
?What did Haliskia eat?
It ate fish and soft-bodied animals like squid (cephalopods). Its curved, interlocking teeth formed a trap to stop slippery prey from escaping.12
?Is Haliskia a dinosaur?
No, it is a pterosaur, which is a flying reptile that lived at the same time as dinosaurs but is not a dinosaur.2
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Haliskia
- Named by
- Pentland et al. 20244
- Group
- Flying reptiles
- Family / clade
- Anhangueridae4
- Classification
- Pterosauria > Pterodactyloidea4
- Age of the rocks
- 106 to 100 million years (Albian)4
- Rock formations
- Toolebuc4
- Countries
- Australia4
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Haliskia was discovered by Kevin Petersen, curator of Kronosaurus Korner museum, in November 2021 at a site in Queensland, Australia. It was named and described by Adele Pentland and colleagues in 2024.12
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure whether Haliskia ate only fish or also soft-bodied animals like squid. Its teeth have few wear marks, which could mean it ate soft prey, but its 'fish grab' teeth suggest it caught fish too.1
Where the facts come from
- Haliskia peterseni, a new anhanguerian pterosaur from the late Early Cretaceous of Australia | Scientific Reports (nature.com)
- No bones about it: 100-million-year-old bones reveal new species of pterosaur | Curtin University (curtin.edu.au)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Haliskia in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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Pteranodon
Quetzalcoatlus
Dorygnathus
Rhamphorhynchus
Anhanguera
Pterodactylus
Stegosaurus
Iguanodon
Archaeopteryx
Giganotosaurus
Microraptor
Deinonychus