Chinese pterodactyl wings its way to the UK: Fossil of a toothless pterosaur commonly found in China and Brazil is discovered on the Isle of Wight

• The specimen was found by a dog walker in Sandown Bay on the island's coast
• University of Portsmouth palaeontologists identified it as a toothless jawbone
• The fossil — 'Wightia declivirostris' — was donated to the Dinosaur Isle Museum

The fossil of a pterosaur that is commonly found in China and Brazil has been discovered for the first time in the UK — on the Isle of Wight.

The petrified remains of the flying reptile — its jawbone — was spotted by a dog walker in Sandown Bay, on the island's south-east coast.

The jaw of the specimen — which has been dubbed 'Wightia declivirostris' — lacked teeth and is related to a group of pterosaurs known as the 'tapejarids'.

Another member of this group was found by researchers from the  University of Portsmouth in Morocco, North Africa, last year and was named Afrotapejara.

Scroll down for video

The fossil of a toothless pterosaur (pictured in this artist's impression flying over the ancient Wessex River that once flowed from Devon to the Isle of Wight) that is commonly found in China and Brazil has been discovered for the first time in the UK

The fossil find was examined and identified by palaeontologist Megan Jacobs of the University of Portsmouth.

'Although only a fragment of jaw, it has all the characteristic of a tapejarid jaw, including numerous tiny little holes that held minute sensory organs for detecting their food, and a down-turned, finely pointed beak,' said Ms Jacobs.

'Complete examples from Brazil and China show that they had large head crests, with the crest sometime being twice as big as the skull.'

'The crests were probably used in sexual display and may have been brightly coloured.'

Ms Jacobs and colleagues determined that the new specimen appears to be more closely related to the tapejarids found in China than their Brazilian counterparts.

'This new species adds to the diversity of dinosaurs and other prehistoric reptiles found on the island,' said paper co-author and palaeontologist David Martill, also of the University of Portsmouth

The Isle of Wight, he added, 'is now one of the most important places for Cretaceous dinosaurs in the world.' 

 The fossil specimen, pictured, has been donated to the Dinosaur Isle Museum at Sandown, where it is hoped it will able to go on display to the public in the future

The fossil specimen has been donated to the Dinosaur Isle Museum at Sandown.

It is expected that the Wightia declivirostris jawbone will eventually be able to go on display to the public.

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Cretaceous Research.

The petrified remains of the flying reptile — its jawbone — was spotted by a dog walker in Sandown Bay, on the island's south-east coast 

PTEROSAURS WERE FLYING REPTILES THAT LIVED IN THE JURASSIC AND CRETACEOUS

Neither birds nor bats, pterosaurs were reptiles who ruled the skies in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

Scientists have long debated where pterosaurs fit on the evolutionary tree.

The leading theory today is that pterosaurs, dinosaurs, and crocodiles are closely related and belong to a group known as archosaurs, but this is still unconfirmed.

Neither birds nor bats, pterosaurs were reptiles who ruled the skies in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (artist's impression pictured)

Pterosaurs evolved into dozens of species. Some were as large as an F-16 fighter jet, and others as small as a sparrow.

They were the first animals after insects to evolve powered flight - not just leaping or gliding, but flapping their wings to generate lift and travel through the air.

Pterosaurs had hollow bones, large brains with well-developed optic lobes, and several crests on their bones to which flight muscles attached.