Fossil confiscated in police raid is one of the most complete pterosaur skeletons ever found

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Updated 1800 GMT (0200 HKT) August 25, 2021

This illustration shows the primitive arthropod Titanokorys gainesi from the front. This creature lived along the ocean floor half a billion years ago.
Photos: Ancient finds
This illustration shows the primitive arthropod Titanokorys gainesi from the front. This creature lived along the ocean floor half a billion years ago.
Hide Caption
1 of 87
This is an artist's illustration of Tupandactylus navigans, a pterosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period 115 million years ago in what is now northeastern Brazil.
Photos: Ancient finds
This is an artist's illustration of Tupandactylus navigans, a pterosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period 115 million years ago in what is now northeastern Brazil.
Hide Caption
2 of 87
Fossils helped researchers discover that early mammals may have been more diverse than previously thought. The newly discovered species include (left to right) Conacodon hettingeri, Miniconus jeanninae and Beornus honeyi.
Photos: Ancient finds
Fossils helped researchers discover that early mammals may have been more diverse than previously thought. The newly discovered species include (left to right) Conacodon hettingeri, Miniconus jeanninae and Beornus honeyi.
Hide Caption
3 of 87
The cremated remains of a young woman (left) and her twin babies (right) were recovered from a 4,000-year-old grave in Hungary.
Photos: Ancient finds
The cremated remains of a young woman (left) and her twin babies (right) were recovered from a 4,000-year-old grave in Hungary.
Hide Caption
4 of 87
This virtual reconstruction shows the position of a fossil in a burial pit. The toddler was laid to rest 78,000 years ago on a pillow in a cave in eastern Kenya. This is thought to be the oldest human burial ever found in Africa.
Photos: Ancient finds
This virtual reconstruction shows the position of a fossil in a burial pit. The toddler was laid to rest 78,000 years ago on a pillow in a cave in eastern Kenya. This is thought to be the oldest human burial ever found in Africa.
Hide Caption
5 of 87