Pterodaustro

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Pterodaustro
Skeleton cast by Pterodaustro

Skeleton cast by Pterodaustro

Temporal occurrence
Aptium to Albium ( Lower Cretaceous )
126.3 to 100.5 million years
Locations
Systematics
Flugsaurier (Pterosauria)
Short-tailed pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea)
Ctenochasmatoidea
Ctenochasmatidae
Ctenochasmatinae
Pterodaustro
Scientific name
Pterodaustro
Bonaparte , 1970
Artistic representation of life

Pterodaustro ("south wing") is a highly specialized genus of short-tailed pterosaurs (Pterodactyloidea) from the early South American Lower Cretaceous ( Aptium to Albium , about 125 to 100 million years ago). This genus belongs to the group of the Ctenochasmatidae . It is the best known pterosaur in South America. The only known species is Pterodaustro guinazui .

Characteristics and developmental biology

Pterodaustro is known for specimens from all ages that reached a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters. The smallest known specimen is an embryo that is still in the egg and has a wingspan of 27 centimeters. The skull ended in an upwardly curved beak, the lower jaw of which was covered with approximately 1000 long, brush-like and probably elastic "teeth". There were 24 teeth for every centimeter. Together they form a trap-like filter device that may have been used to catch small crustaceans in the water, similar to what flamingos do today.

Bone histological studies on bone cross-sections were able to reconstruct the growth pattern of this pterosaur. Young animals grew very quickly until they reached sexual maturity and around 53% of their final body size at around two years of age. For the next 3 to 4 years, growth continued at a slower pace.

Finds and research history

José Bonaparte discovered the first fossils in 1963 in a small quarry of the Lagarcito Formation in the province of San Luis in Argentina, now known as "Loma del Pterodaustro" . Extensive excavations were carried out in this quarry some 30 years later, between 1994 and 1998. These excavations uncovered hundreds of specimens, of which around 250 had already been prepared in 2007. While the majority of these specimens have only survived in fragments, two complete articulated skeletons and four articulated, but skullless skeletons have been discovered.

The Puntanipterus , which comes from the La Cruz Formation , is probably a synonym of Pterodaustro . Fragments of the skull and a humerus of Pterodaustro were also found in Chile , in the Antofagasta province .

Pterodaustro was first scientifically described by Bonaparte in 1970 , based on a humerus and a few other skeletal elements.

literature

  • 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 .

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d Laura Codorniú, Zulma Gasparini: Pterosauria. In: Zulma Gasparini, Leonardo Salgado , Rodolfo A. Coria (eds.): Patagonian Mesozoic reptiles. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN et al. 2007, ISBN 978-0-253-34857-9 , pp. 143-166.
  2. a b Anusuya Chinsamy, Laura Codorniú, Luis Chiappe : Developmental growth patterns of the filter-feeder pterosaur, Pterodaustro guiñazui. In: Biology Letters. Vol. 4, No. 3, 2008, ISSN  1744-9561 , pp. 282-285, doi : 10.1098 / rsbl.2008.0004 .
  3. ^ Luis M. Chiappe, David Rivarola, Edgardo Romero, Sergio da Vila, Laura Codorniu: Recent Advances in the Paleontology of the Lower Cretaceous Lagarcito formation (Parque Nacional Sierra de Las Quijadas, San Luis, Argentina). In: Spencer G. Lucas, James I. Kirkland, John W. Estep (eds.): Lower and middle Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems (= New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Bulletin. 14, ISSN  1524-4156 ). New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque NY 1998, pp. 187–192, digital version (PDF; 1 MB) .
  4. ^ Jose F. Bonaparte : Pterodaustro guinazui gen. Et sp. nov. Pterosaurio de la Formacion Lagarcito, Provincia de San Luis, Argentina y su significado en la geologia regional (Pterodactylidae). In: Acta Geologica Lilloana. Vol. 10, 1970, ISSN  0567-7513 , pp. 209-225.

Web links

Commons : Pterodaustro  - collection of images, videos and audio files