Overview

• The new species, Eotephradactylus mcintireae, was named in honor of FossiLab volunteer Suzanne McIntire who discovered the jawbone
• Researchers estimate the gull-sized reptile fed on fish based on its jaw and tooth structure
• The Owl Rock Member bonebed preserves a late Triassic community including giant amphibians, early frogs, armored turtles and crocodile relatives
• Armor-spiked turtle remains matching German specimens suggest turtles dispersed rapidly across equatorial Pangaea
• The study led by Smithsonian paleontologist Ben Kligman was published in July 2025 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences