A Pterrible mistake? Something fishy about this new Pterosaur

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For this week's episode, we dive into a baffling array of interweaving palaeo-controversies. Where should scientifically important fossils be homed in this globalised and commercialised world? Who gets access to fossils if we need to check on someone else's potentially mistaken interpretations? Susie and Rob take a look at the fascinating story of a new filter-feeding pterosaur called Bakiribu found inside a fossilised vomit from the Cretaceous of Brazil. But was it actually a pterosaur? Another team on the other side of the world came to the conclusion that it might in fact be a fish. Who is right and how to we sort this out? What does this tell us about palaeontology, colonialism, and reproducibility? How does a holotype specimen end up for sale on the private market? And do we have a new edition to add to our pantheon of infamous "Fossil Fails"? The papers discussed this week are "A regurgitalite reveals a new filter-feeding pterosaur from the Santana Group" by RV Pêgas and colleagues published in Scientific Reports in November 2025 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-22983-3 And "Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur" by David Unwin and colleagues published in Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências in April 2026 https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202620251374 With the associated editorial "Scientific errors in paleontology - the case of Bakiribu: pterosaur or fish?" by Alexander Kellner https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202620269802

UPDATE: Since the release of this episode, we received a personal communication from RV Pêgas disputing some of the details as published in the editorial note by Kellner. More information can be found here https://web.archive.org/web/20260513195001/https://cienciahoje.org.br/direito-de-resposta/

We also get into the issue of illegal export of Brazilian fossils including the controversial case of the fossil 'snake' Tetrapodophis https://www.estadao.com.br/ciencia/herton-escobar/author-of-4-legged-snake-paper-defies-brazilian-fossil-laws/ As well as the baffling circumstances that led to a fossil holotype of a dinosaur in the collections of a famous Paris museum to be put up for sale https://www.nationalgeographic.com/newsletters/article/stones-bones-french-auction-dubreuillosaurus

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Wide Screen art by Julio Lacerda.