New Pre-Historic Species Named After 9-Year-Old Fossil Hunter

A newly discovered species of petrosaur -- a winged reptile that lived alongside the dinosaurs some 220 million years ago -- has been named after the nine-year-old fossil hunter that found it.

Scientists dubbed the Vectidraco daisymorrisae after the young Daisy Morris of the U.K., according to a report by National Geographic News. Vectidraco means "dragon from the Isle of Wight" in Latin.

Morris was reportedly exploring the Isle of Wight in 2008 when the then-five-year-old came across "blacked bones sticking out of the sand," according to the BBC.

The girl's family took the find to paleontologists at the University of Southampton , where the fossils were identified as a never-before-seen species of ancient reptile.

"I knew I was looking at something very special. And I was right," said Martin Simpson, a fossil expert at the University of Southampton, in the BBC report.

"In pterosaurs, certain parts of the skeleton, especially the skull and the pelvis, are really distinct between different [species]," said Andrew Farke, a paleontologist at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, California, according to National Geographic. 

The new species belongs to a group of petrosaurs called azhdarchoids, which lived in the Cretaceous era, are toothless and evolved to live in woodland and forest areas in a climate much warmer than that of England today.

The creature has an estimated wingspan of 2.5 feet and was about a foot tall. 

Daisy Morris' find also inspired the children's book "Daisy and the Isle of Wight Dragon," which was co-authored by Simpson, one of the researchers who published a paper on the new creature. 

A BBC interview with Daisy Morris can be seen here.