(Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
(PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK, Ariz.) Researchers discovered a new species of reptile in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, according to the Associated Press.
A new study published on Oct. 8 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology described the new species and named it Skybalonyx skapter. The tiny burrowing reptile is part of the drepanosaurs group from the Triassic Period, about 220 million years ago, when Earth had one supercontinent, Pangaea, according to the AP.
The researchers said the species was strange because it had enlarged second claws that allowed it to burrow like a mole, a bird-like beak and a tail with claws.
The team consisted of researchers from the national park, Virginia Tech, the University of Washington, Arizona State University, Idaho State University and the Virginia Museum of Natural History.
Researchers originally discovered the reptile fossils in the summers of 2018 and 2019.