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From today's featured article Istiodactylus was a pterosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous. The first fossil of the genus was discovered on the Isle of Wight in England. More specimens were later found, including a species from China, I. sinensis, which possibly belongs to a different genus. Istiodactylus (from Greek for "sail finger") was a large pterosaur; estimates of its wingspan range from 4.3 to 5 metres (14 to 16 ft) long. Its skull was about 45 centimetres (18 in) long, and was relatively short and broad for a pterosaur. The front of the snout was low and blunt, and bore a semicircle of 48 interlocked teeth. It had very large forelimbs, with a wing-membrane distended by a long wing-finger, but the hindlimbs were very short. It was a scavenger that may have used its distinctive teeth to sever morsels from large carcasses. The wings may have been adapted for soaring, which would have helped it find carcasses. Istiodactylus is known from the Wessex Formation and the younger Vectis Formation. (Full article...)
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The Catalan Atlas is a medieval map in the Catalan language, created in 1375. Described as "the zenith of medieval map-work", it is the earliest known chart to use a compass rose. It was produced by the Majorcan cartographic school and is attributed to Abraham Cresques, a Jewish book illuminator described by a contemporary as a master of mappae mundi. It has been in the royal library of France (now the Bibliothèque nationale de France) since the time of King Charles V. The atlas originally consisted of six vellum leaves, each about 64.5 by 50 cm (25.4 by 19.7 in), folded vertically and painted in various colours including gold and silver. This picture is a montage of eight pages (four leaves) of the atlas, depicting Europe, northern Africa and Asia. Map credit: Abraham Cresques
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