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 The last of the pterodactyls-flying reptiles with leathery wings and long,toothy beaks- died about 100 million years ago,according
to established 'scientific opinion'. But,in the experience of a number of startled french workman,the last one dies in winter
of 1856, in a partially completed railway tunnel, between the St. Dizier and Nancy Lines.
In the half light of the tunnel, something monstrous stumbled toward them.Out of a great boulder of Jurassic limestone, that
they had just split open.It fluttered its wings, croaked, and died at their feet.
The creature,whose wingspan was 10 feet 7 inches, had 4 legs joined by a membrane,like a bat. What should have been feet were
talons,and the mouth was arrayed with sharp teeth. The skin was like black leather,thick and oily.
At the nearby town of Gray,the creature was immediately identified by a local student of paleontology as a 'Pterodactyl'.
The rock stratum in which it had been found was consistent with the period when they lived,and the limestone boulder that
had imprisoned the winged reptile for millions of years was found to contain a cavity in form of the exact mold of the creatures
body.
(Source: 'The Illustrated London News',Feb.9th,1856, page 166)
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