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A new pterosaur (Reptilia, Pterosauria) from the Norian (Late Triassic) of Friuli (Northeastern Italy). Preliminary note.

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Eudimorphodon rosenfeldi n. sp. a pterosaur from the Norian (Late Triassic) of northern Friuli (northeastern Italy) is described. The features which distinguish E. rosenfeldi from E. ranzii are: hind-limbs proportionally longer (tibia is as long as ulna and much longer than humerus); different shape of the posterior part of the lower jaw, of the humerus, coracoid and pteroid; pterygoid without teeth; teeth surface smooth.
... preclude determining its proximal shape; only part of the proximal cotyle for articulation with the radial condyle of the humerus (oval cotyle for articulation with the capitulum of the humerus of Bennett, 2001a) and the dorsal expansion of the proximal end (angular ridge of Hooley, 1913, biceps tubercle of Veldmeijer, 2003, dorsal process of Andres et al., 2010, tubercle that is a dorsal projection of the proximal end of Averianov, 2010, ridge building the dorsal part of the radial head of Frey et al., 2011, large tubercle process and bicipital tubercle of Eck et al., 2011, 'crest' of Dalla Vecchia, 2014, or salient tubercle of Vullo et al., 2018 can be resolved. However, it can be seen to be proximally expanded, unlike the broad spatulate proximal radius of D. banthensis (Padian, 2008b:55) or the unexpanded proximal radius of Eudimorphodon rosenfeldi, Dalla Vecchia, 1995(Dalla Vecchia, 2009. The preserved portion of the proximal cotyle is gently concave, rising gradually anteriorly, and reaches the posterior margin of the proximal end. ...
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Quetzalcoatlus is the largest flying organism ever known and one of the most familiar pterosaurs to the public. Despite a half century of interest, it remains very incompletely described. This shortfall is addressed here through a full morphological description of Quetzalcoatlus and the other pterosaur material of Big Bend National Park, Texas. The first reported material was described and named Quetzalcoatlus northropi by Douglas Lawson in 1975, but in two separate publications. A ruling by the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature was required for the name to be made available. Review of the pterosaur fauna of the Park recovers three valid species of azhdarchid pterosaurs in the latest Cretaceous Period Javelina and Black Peaks formations. The size and occurrence of these species are correlated with depositional environment. The holotype of the giant Quetzalcoatlus northropi and six other giant specimens referred to it occur in stream-channel deposits, including the youngest reported pterosaur. The vast majority of specimens (200+) are from large pterosaurs found in the abandoned channel-lake deposits at Pterodactyl Ridge; they form a diagnosable natural group erected as the new species Quetzalcoatlus lawsoni. A moderate-sized partial skull and cervical series also found in the abandoned channel-lake deposits at Pterodactyl Ridge, but lower in the section, is distinct from both species and is erected as Wellnhopterus brevirostris, gen. et sp. nov. Overbank flood-plain facies preserve another eleven specimens of extreme size variation, including small azhdarchids. The Big Bend pterosaur fauna provides the greatest known sample of azhdarchid pterosaurs and three-dimensional pterosaur morphology.
... Nonostante tutto, la scoperta è stata fondamentale perché ha rappresentato il primo pterosauro triassico e ha permesso lo studio dei particolari denti dell'esemplare ancora mai osservati. L'importanza della scoperta ha permesso anche l'attribuzione al genere di numerose specie ritrovate successivamente: E. rosenfieldi Dalla Vecchia, 1995 contemporanei. Quest'ultima specie rappresenta anche uno dei meglio preservati "campylognathoididi" di sempre. ...
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A new and articulated specimen of a pterosaur wing including upper arm, forearm, parts of the carpus and metacarpus, and a wing phalanx from Maastrichtian phosphatic deposits of Morocco are assigned to Tethydraco cf. regalis Longrich et al., 2018. The specimen comes from the village of Ouled Abdoun, close to the Oued Zem basin and its phosphatic mines (Morocco). The fossil is part of the collection of the Université Hassan II of Casablanca (ID Number FSAC CP 251). In the first part, the thesis presents a synthetic introduction about the morphology, anatomy, physiology and evolution of pterosaurs in order to offer a comprehensive framework on this fascinating group of extinct flying tetrapods. The main goal of this work is the taxonomic identification of the specimen, principally by morphological and morphometric/statistic analysis, based on the comparison with the most similar pterosaurs of the same epoch. Aspect of the humerus morphology and dimensional ratios of the wing elements suggest that T. cf. regalis is an azhdarchid rather than pteranodontid, as originally proposed. A high abundance of azhdarchid remains in the open marine setting of the Moroccan phosphates casts doubt on suggestions that Azhdarchidae were largely terrestrial pterosaurs.
... A detailed summary of these studies is provided by Wellnhofer (1975Wellnhofer ( , 1991. More recently, soft tissue preservation of pterosaurs has been reported from several different conservation lagerstaetten such as in the Triassic of Italy, Lower and Upper Jurassic of Germany, Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of China, and Lower Cretaceous of Brazil (e.g., Unwin and Bakhurina, 1994;Dalla Vecchia, 1994;Kellner, 1996;Frey et al., 2003;Kellner et al., 2010). An amazing array of preserved soft tissues have been reported, including remains of the respiratory system, gut, brain, musculature, integument and patagia (Witton, 2013). ...
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Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is a technique based on multiple digital photos with a fixed camera position and illumination from varying directions. These photos are processed to create an image file in which light source position and reflectance properties can be digitally modified. The method is frequently used in archaeology due to its abilities to visualize surface details. Here we apply RTI imaging to the holotype of the non-pterodactyloid pterosaur Scaphognathus crassirostris from the famous Solnhofen Lithographic Limestone of Late Jurassic age and compare the results with ultraviolet light (UV) imaging. The specimen is of particular historical interest since it was the first pterosaur for which a “fur-like” integument was described, by the German paleontologist and zoologist Georg August Goldfuß in 1831. His publication on this fossil includes detailed paleobiological inferences and culminates in the first published scientific life reconstruction of an extinct vertebrate in its environment. However, soft part preservation was not accepted by later scientists such as Herman von Meyer, and Goldfuß' work on soft part preservation, paleobiology and paleo-art was largely forgotten. With RTI and UV light, pycnofibres covering the neck and the body, as well as aktinofibrils and blood vessels on the wing membrane, were visualized on the Scaphognathus crassirostris specimen, largely confirming Goldfuß' observations. The application of RTI is technically easy and promising for paleontological studies, especially for flat fossils on slabs of sediment, where minor differences in relief might hold crucial information. To our knowledge, this is the first study to apply RTI to soft part preservation in vertebrate fossils.
... Slightly ventral to this pair of foramina, a single foramen is also present, most likely representing the median Eustachian foramen. This foramen has been reported by Dalla Vecchia (2009) in the Triassic pterosaur Carniadactylus rosenfeldi (Dalla Vecchia, 1995). ...
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Thalassodromeus sethi (Pterodactyloidea, Tapejaridae, Thalassodrominae) is a unique pterosaur from the Romualdo Formation, Araripe Basin (Early Cretaceous, Albian). A large sagittal cranial crest (the largest known ossified crest of any pterosaur) and unusual toothless bladed jaws constitute some of its outstanding anatomical features. Its holotype (DGM 1476-R, almost complete skull and mandible in three dimensions) represents one of the largest pterosaur skulls ever found. Here, we provide a detailed osteological redescription of the holotype, which has only been preliminarily described. We also describe and depict for the first time some skeletal regions of Th. sethi, including the occiput, the palatal openings, and a dentary fragment. Finally, in the light of new information concerning this species, we revisited the specimen NMSG SAO 251093 (an incomplete mandible), also from the Romualdo Formation and originally referred to Th. sethi but recently redescribed as a new species of dsungaripterid pterosaur named Banguela oberlii. Here, the analysis of a cast (MN 4703-V) and its inclusion in a phylogenetic analysis recovered NMSG SAO 251093 within the Thalassodrominae, as a sister taxon of Th. sethi and indeed different from it at the species level. We hereby rename it Thalassodromeus oberlii, comb. nov. These considerations provide new data for discussions concerning the morphology of the Tapejaridae, the diversity of the Araripe pterosaur fauna, and the complex evolution of the pterodactyloid palatal region, as well as data for future morphofunctional studies of Thalassodromeus. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Pêgas, R. V., F. R. Costa, and A. W. A. Kellner. 2018. New information on the osteology and a taxonomic revision of the genus Thalassodromeus (Pterodactyloidea, Tapejaridae, Thalassodrominae). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1443273.
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Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight. The timing of their origin is still debated, and hypotheses range from the end of the Permian Period, to the lower Mesozoic Era, and through to the Middle–Late Triassic epochs. Regardless of when they originated, the oldest records are restricted to the Upper Triassic Norian Stage in the northern hemisphere (Europe, USA and Greenland). We report two new raeticodactylid pterosaurs, Yelaphomte praderioi gen. et sp. nov. and Pachagnathus benitoi gen. et sp. nov. from the upper Norian to Rhaetian Quebrada del Barro Formation in north‐western Argentina. The new specimens (an isolated dentary symphysis, partial rostrum, and distal half of ulna) are the first unequivocal Triassic records of pterosaurs in the southern hemisphere, confirming that the absence of pterosaurs outside north‐western Pangaea during the Late Triassic was the result of poor sampling rather than true absence. These new discoveries provide evidence of a greater diversity of pterosaurs living in terrestrial habitats and a wider global distribution of pterosaurs from the beginning of their evolution on Earth.
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The two localities are an example of the Rhaetian bone bed at its most different. The lithologies above and below the bone bed are similar at each site as they were both in the middle of a shallow seaway that flowed from south Wales to northwest England. This is evident through a faunal overlap of Rhomphaiodon minor and Lissodus minimus among others. The Westbury Formation contains the Rhaetian bone bed that formed through a great transgressive event accumulating as an extensive Late Triassic vertebrate deposit. The black shales are found across all deposits of the Westbury Formation in England as well as the basal bone bed. The surrounding black shales are organic-rich and were deposited in oxygen-depleted conditions as Chondrites indicates. The restricted settings in which these bone beds formed must have had fluvial influx as angular quartz and terrestrial organisms are found. Euhedral pyrite is present at Aust Cliff and must have formed before incorporation into the conglomerate as iron disulphide does not form in high energies. Glauconite is an indicator of marine conditions and is present in thin section suggesting saline conditions. The early diagenetic minerals calcite, glauconite and pyrite are present and likely formed before transport. Aust Cliff has higher terrestrial content than Bantycock Quarry due to its close proximity to the palaeoislands. Fauna, bone preservation and levels of breakage were all used to compare the two horizons, concluding the two localities formed under disparate conditions.
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A new non-monofenestratan pterosaur with multicusped dentition, Seazzadactylus venieri, is described from the Upper Triassic (middle-upper Norian) of the Carnian Prealps (northeastern Italy). The holotype of S. venieri preserves a complete mandibular and maxillary dentition, along with a nearly complete premaxillary one, showing unique features. Furthermore, the arrangement of the premaxillary teeth and the shape of jugal, pterygoid, ectopterygoid, scapula and pteroid are unique within non-monofenestratan pterosaurs. S. venieri is similar and closely related to Carniadactylus rosenfeldi and Austriadraco dallavecchiai, which are also from the Alpine middle-upper Norian of Italy and Austria, respectively. In a parsimony-based phylogenetic analysis, S. venieri is found to nest within a clade of Triassic pterosaurs composed of Arcticodactylus cromptonellus, Austriadraco dallavecchiai, Carniadactylus rosenfeldi and a trichotomy of Raeticodactylus filisurensis, Caviramus schesaplanensis and MCSNB 8950. This unnamed clade is basal within the Pterosauria, but is not the basalmost clade. Eudimorphodon ranzii lies outside this clade and is more derived, making the Eudimorphodontidae paraphyletic. S. venieri increases the diversity of Triassic pterosaurs and brings the number of pterosaur genera and species in the Dolomia di Forni Formation to four.
Chapter
The fossil record of Late Triassic tetrapods can be organized biostratigraphically and biochronologically into five, temporally successive land-vertebrate faunachrons (LVFs) that encompass Late Triassic time (in ascending order): Berdyankian, Otischalkian, Adamanian, Revueltian and Apachean. An up-to-date review of the age constraints on Late Triassic tetrapod fossil assemblages and correlation within the framework of the LVFs is presented. This makes possible a much more accurate evaluation of the timing of biotic events of Late Triassic tetrapod evolution, including: (1) Otischalkian, HO (highest occurrence) of almasaurids and chroniosuchians?, LOs (lowest occurrences) of crocodylomorphs and dinosaurs; (2) Adamanian, HO of mastodonsaurids and trematosaurids, LO of mammals; (3) Revueltian, HOs of capitosaurids, rhynchosaurs and dicynodonts; and (4) Apachean, HOs of metoposaurids, plagiosaurids and aetosaurs. The LO of turtles is Early Triassic or older, and the HO of phytosaurs is an Early Jurassic record. There is no compelling evidence of tetrapod mass extinctions at either the Carnian-Norian or the Triassic-Jurassic boundaries.
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The here reported tooth was recovered from a Rhaetian bonebed near Bonenburg. A comparison to the published eucynodont taxa of the Upper Triassic of Central Europe is given and the tooth is assigned to Le-pagia gaumensis Hahn, Wild & Wouters, 1987, which is based only on isolated teeth. This finding is the first evidence to date of terrestrial input into this bonebed. Furthermore, the differentiation of isolated pterosaurian and cynodont teeth is discussed.
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A previously unnoticed geometric pattern is present in the extremities of all tetrapods. Sets of straight and typically uninterrupted hinge lines pass through neighboring interphalangeal joints and across ungual tips. Four sets of these lines appear in basal polydactyl tetrapods, two medial sets, a transverse set and a lateral set. The two medial sets merge in primitive pentadactyl tetrapods. The resulting three line sets persist in later taxa, even when digits shrink and disappear. Primitively and typically the lines in each set are more or less parallel, but lines may converge, merge and shift as phalanges disappear or phalangeal patterns change. Confirming this geometric pattern, complex interphalangeal joint surfaces typically align with hinge lines and pad divisions parallel them. In addition, unguals rarely cross extensions of hinge lines and longer unguals may divert medially or laterally rather than cross them. Exceptions occur most commonly on ungual II. Line sets may exist because phalanges appear to flex and extend most efficiently in unison. Hinge line patterns appear to identify clades so they may, to a limited extent, be used taxonomically. Hinge lines also have predictive value in that missing phalanges, including unguals, can be reconstructed with confidence using hinge lines as size guides. Correct digit spread and metapodial configuration can also be determined in extinct taxa by seeking the appearance of continuous interphalangeal hinge lines in tested reconstructions.
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