Araripesaurus
| Araripesaurus | ||||||||||||
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Lower chalk | ||||||||||||
| approx. 110 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Araripesaurus | ||||||||||||
| Price , 1971 | ||||||||||||
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Araripesaurus is a genus of Flugsaurier (Pterosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil . This short-tailed pterosaur lived about 110 million years ago and is included in the classification of the Ornithocheiridae . Only the type A. castilhoi has been scientifically described .
The first description of the genus was published by the Brazilian paleontologist Llewellyn Ivor Price (1905–1980) in 1971. Araripesaurus is the first scientifically described pterosaur from the Santana formation . This formation on the slopes of the Araripe Plateau is one of the most important sites for pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period.
The description of the underlying fossil specimen, the holotype was in a concretion of limestone included. This type of fossil conservation, which is typical of the Santana Formation, has preserved the thin-walled bones of the pterosaurs in addition to other cretaceous creatures. Parts of the right wing were found in this geode . Of these, the fourth metacarpal bone , which supported the long flight finger, was the only bone that was completely preserved. From its length of 11.8 centimeters, a wingspan of 2.2 meters can be calculated for this individual. The upper arm bone (humerus), the ulna (ulna) and the radius (radius) as well as the carpal bones (carpalia) and individual limbs (phalanges) of the fingers are partially preserved . However, since the diagnostically significant skull was not found, the systematic assignment of the genus to the ornithocheirids made by Price is questionable.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter Wellnhofer : The great encyclopedia of the pterosaurs. Illustrated natural history of the flying dinosaurs. 100 species. Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-576-10174-8 , p. 8.
- ↑ a b c d e Peter Wellnhofer: The great encyclopedia of the pterosaurs. Illustrated natural history of the flying dinosaurs. 100 species. Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-576-10174-8 , p. 123.