• Admissions & Booking
    • • Planning your visit
    • • Group Visits
    • • About your visit
    • • Meerkat Kastle
    • • Find Us
    • • Discovery Centre
    • • Download a map of S.O.S.
  • About S.O.S.
  • Making a Donation
  • Help for Injured Owls
    • * Avian Flu
    • • What to Do
    • • Injured Owls
    • • Orphaned Owls
    • • The S.O.S. Raptor Hospital
    • • Raptor Rescue Orgs.
    • • Help For Other Injured Wildlife
  • Adopt-an-Owl...
  • Saving Britain's Owls
    • • Overview
    • • Wild Owl Nestboxes
    • • Keeping Owls as Pets
    • • Owls & The Law
    • • Nest Box Scheme
  • Education at S.O.S.
    • • S.O.S. Education Department
    • • Education Visits to S.O.S.
    • • Outreach Visits
    • • Higher & Further Education
    • • School and Group Projects
    • • The SOS Shop
    • • "The Screecher" Newsletter
    • • Group Talks
  • Encounters & Experiences
    • • Gift Passes
    • • Close Encounters
    • • Owl Encounters
    • • Meerkat Encounters
    • • Armadillo Encounters
    • • Porcupine Encounters
    • • Half Day Animal Keeper
    • • Half Day Bird Keeper
    • • Keeper for the Day
    • • The WILD Club 2025
  • Pellet Detectives
  • S.O.S. Events
  • We Are Hiring
  • Raptor Factors
  • Photography at S.O.S.
    • • 2024 Photo Competition Results
  • Home Fun For Kids!
  • The S.O.S. Blog
  • Volunteering at S.O.S.
    • • Help Us at S.O.S. H.Q.
    • • Volunteer Hosts
    • • Corporate Volunteers
    • • Join the Owl-Reach Team!
  • Hedgehog Care
  • Bees, Bugs & Butterflies
  • Suffolk's Endangered Wildlife
  • Newsletter Archive
  • Legacies & Donations
  • Local Events & Places to Stay
  • Our Sponsors
  • S.O.S. Privacy Policy
  • Use of CCTV at S.O.S.
  • S.O.S. Safeguarding Policy
  • Menu

Suffolk Owl Sanctuary

  • Admissions & Booking
    • • Planning your visit
    • • Group Visits
    • • About your visit
    • • Meerkat Kastle
    • • Find Us
    • • Discovery Centre
    • • Download a map of S.O.S.
  • About S.O.S.
  • Making a Donation
  • Help for Injured Owls
    • * Avian Flu
    • • What to Do
    • • Injured Owls
    • • Orphaned Owls
    • • The S.O.S. Raptor Hospital
    • • Raptor Rescue Orgs.
    • • Help For Other Injured Wildlife
  • Adopt-an-Owl...
  • Saving Britain's Owls
    • • Overview
    • • Wild Owl Nestboxes
    • • Keeping Owls as Pets
    • • Owls & The Law
    • • Nest Box Scheme
  • Education at S.O.S.
    • • S.O.S. Education Department
    • • Education Visits to S.O.S.
    • • Outreach Visits
    • • Higher & Further Education
    • • School and Group Projects
    • • The SOS Shop
    • • "The Screecher" Newsletter
    • • Group Talks
  • Encounters & Experiences
    • • Gift Passes
    • • Close Encounters
    • • Owl Encounters
    • • Meerkat Encounters
    • • Armadillo Encounters
    • • Porcupine Encounters
    • • Half Day Animal Keeper
    • • Half Day Bird Keeper
    • • Keeper for the Day
    • • The WILD Club 2025
  • Pellet Detectives
  • S.O.S. Events
  • We Are Hiring
  • Raptor Factors
  • Photography at S.O.S.
    • • 2024 Photo Competition Results
  • Home Fun For Kids!
  • The S.O.S. Blog
  • Volunteering at S.O.S.
    • • Help Us at S.O.S. H.Q.
    • • Volunteer Hosts
    • • Corporate Volunteers
    • • Join the Owl-Reach Team!
  • Hedgehog Care
  • Bees, Bugs & Butterflies
  • Suffolk's Endangered Wildlife
  • Newsletter Archive
  • Legacies & Donations
  • Local Events & Places to Stay
  • Our Sponsors
  • S.O.S. Privacy Policy
  • Use of CCTV at S.O.S.
  • S.O.S. Safeguarding Policy


The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary
Stonham Barns
Pettaugh Road
Stonham Aspal IP14 6AT
e-mail:
info@owlhelp.org.uk

Tel: 03456 807 897
Option 3: General information
+ Adoptions, Courses etc.
Option 5: If you need help with an injured bird of prey

Reg. Charity No. 1086565

image.png

From Snakes to Snake Eagles

February 12, 2008

As the mild winter continues here in East Anglia, we have been extremely lucky to have had some gloriously sunny weather recently, particularly during the recent "half-term" school holidays. And to celebrate, we launched our new series of Activity Adventure Days for 2008, designed specifically for 6-12 year olds.

For the new year, we have updated the format and added some new adventures to stimulate the enquiring young minds that participate.

One of our most popular adventures last year was our "Dino-Soar Discovery Day" and we really could not have timed the launch event better, because just one day before a newly discovered "flying" dinosaur was announced to the world!

Identified from its fossil remains, the discovery was of a new species of "pterodactyl". Pterodactyls are commonly recognised as the large hulking reptilian, bat-like creatures with gigantic membranous wings - quite unlike the feathered archaeopteryx that many people know from later prehistory.

The interesting thing about the newly-discovered fossil is that it sheds completely new light on the theories of flight evolution. For many years, it was thought that, because pterodactyl remains were found mostly in prehistoric coastal regions, that the creatures needed the coastal updrafts to get airborne and stay aloft. Once in the air it was presumed that because of their size, these incredible creatures would not have flown like conventional birds (as they would have required enormous amounts of energy to flap their gigantic wings) but rather flew much more like conventional gliders, spending long periods out at sea catching food on the wing from the surface.

However in contrast, the new "pterodactyl" is incredibly small, just about the size of a house sparrow. Equally surprising, it was found in the western part of China's Liaoning province, far from the sea in a region that was heavily forested 120 million years ago. As a consequence, the new discovery has the scientific name Nemicolopterus Crypticus, which means "hidden flying forest dweller".

Importantly, the experts think the pterodactyl would have been capable of the typical "flapping-flight" we associate with modern day birds. "This really amazing creature, sparrow-sized, which lived essentially in the trees, showing us a very new, very interesting side of the evolutionary history of these animals," said Alexander W.A. Kellner, of the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. "Because they were flying animals, their fossils are extremely rare," he added.

Researchers at first thought that this particular Nemicolopterus find was a baby: he skull was not fully fused, meaning it was not yet an adult, but as the ends of the bones were developed, it was not a hatchling either. They also said the legs and feet had attachments for muscles, indicating that it could grasp tree limbs; and unlike most pterodactyls, it lacked teeth - leading to speculation that it might have eaten insects, much like the common garden birds we have today.

Meanwhile back in the 21st century, the dinosaur enthusiasts on our Activity Adventure Day started the day discussing this news, and then took time to look at some living specimens of both raptors and reptiles to see what comparisons could be drawn between them and their distant dinosaur cousins.

image.png

During our fun-packed day - and with the much appreciated assistance of our neighbour Colin of Abbey Aquatics at Stonham Barns - we examined everything from snakes to snake eagles in our quest to learn more.

Especially exciting was being able to handle many of the reptiles and other incredible creatures within Colin's collection: his reptile knowledge is second to none, and our Dino-Soar Activity Day proved a great opportunity for our young adventurers to share his amazing understanding of the subject.

We rounded off the day with a fossil-making session attempting to make our very own replicas of creatures already known to science - and some yet to be discovered! Thanks to Chris Soule of Soule Pottery - another Stonham Barns neighbour - for providing us with the clay we needed to make our freaky futuristic fossils.

Finally, if you or any youngster you know would like to participate in one of our Activity Adventure series during 2008, then please click here for more details.


Prev / Next

Featured Posts

Top
Featured
May 13, 2025
No Mow May
May 13, 2025
May 13, 2025
Mar 16, 2025
British Science Week 2025
Mar 16, 2025
Mar 16, 2025
Mar 2, 2025
World Wildlife Day 2025
Mar 2, 2025
Mar 2, 2025
Feb 27, 2025
A Visit From Our Vet- Meerkat Microchipping and Raptor Rehabilitation
Feb 27, 2025
Feb 27, 2025
Feb 2, 2025
National Hedgehog Day 2025
Feb 2, 2025
Feb 2, 2025
Jan 24, 2025
How to Help Birds this Winter
Jan 24, 2025
Jan 24, 2025
Jan 6, 2025
For Eve – Autumn Days.
Jan 6, 2025
Jan 6, 2025
Nov 15, 2024
A Brief Summary of the History of Falconry
Nov 15, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
Oct 1, 2024
Red Squirrel Awareness Week
Oct 1, 2024
Oct 1, 2024
Sep 13, 2024
International Vulture Awareness Day 2024
Sep 13, 2024
Sep 13, 2024
Sep 3, 2024
Meet the New Team Members!
Sep 3, 2024
Sep 3, 2024
Jul 5, 2024
Red Squirrels return to Suffolk Owl Sanctuary
Jul 5, 2024
Jul 5, 2024
Apr 4, 2024
Winter guests released
Apr 4, 2024
Apr 4, 2024
Mar 27, 2024
Why no Owls???
Mar 27, 2024
Mar 27, 2024
Mar 18, 2024
British Science Week 2024
Mar 18, 2024
Mar 18, 2024
Mar 13, 2024
Lizzy the Tangled Tawny Owl
Mar 13, 2024
Mar 13, 2024
Feb 27, 2024
Sparrowhawk rescue
Feb 27, 2024
Feb 27, 2024
Feb 12, 2024
Volunteer Training
Feb 12, 2024
Feb 12, 2024
Feb 12, 2024
Double release marks historic moment
Feb 12, 2024
Feb 12, 2024
Feb 1, 2024
Lincoln stays with his best friend
Feb 1, 2024
Feb 1, 2024
Jan 29, 2024
Mary the Buzzard
Jan 29, 2024
Jan 29, 2024
Jan 26, 2024
Piper the Tawny Owl
Jan 26, 2024
Jan 26, 2024
Jan 4, 2024
Hospital updates
Jan 4, 2024
Jan 4, 2024
Dec 29, 2023
What a year for learning...
Dec 29, 2023
Dec 29, 2023
Dec 12, 2023
24 hours later...
Dec 12, 2023
Dec 12, 2023
Dec 11, 2023
Chimney Tawny
Dec 11, 2023
Dec 11, 2023
Nov 28, 2023
Group volunteers lend a hand
Nov 28, 2023
Nov 28, 2023
Nov 28, 2023
Winter maintenance for nest boxes
Nov 28, 2023
Nov 28, 2023
Nov 8, 2023
New home for Nelson
Nov 8, 2023
Nov 8, 2023
Nov 7, 2023
A Tale of two Shorties
Nov 7, 2023
Nov 7, 2023