Austriadactylus

Last updated

Austriadactylus
Temporal range: Late Triassic, 215  Ma
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Austriadactylus.jpg
Skeleton
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Clade: Preondactylia
Genus: Austriadactylus
Dalla Vecchia et al., 2002
Species:
A. cristatus
Binomial name
Austriadactylus cristatus
Dalla Vecchia et al., 2002

Austriadactylus is a genus of primitive pterosaur. The fossil remains were unearthed in Late Triassic (middle Norian age, [1] about 215 million years ago) [2] rocks of Austria.

Contents

Discovery

Skull Austriadactylus cristatus skull and lower jaw from Carnic Prealps.jpg
Skull

The genus was named in 2002 by Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia e.a.. The type species is Austriadactylus cristatus. The genus name is derived from Latin Austria and Greek daktylos, "finger", in reference to the wing finger of pterosaurs. The specific epithet means "crested" in Latin, a reference to the skull crest.

The genus is based on holotype SMNS 56342, a crushed partial skeleton on a slab, found in an abandoned mine near Ankerschlag in Tyrol, in the Norian Seefelder Beds. The counterslab has been lost and with it some of the bone. The fossil consists of the skull, lower jaws, some vertebrae, parts of the limbs and pelvic girdle, and the first part of the tail.

Description

The elongated skull has a length of 11 cm. It carried a bony crest that widened as it descended towards the snout, up to height of 2 cm. The triangular nares formed the largest skull openings. The also triangular fenestrae antorbitales are smaller than the orbits. The teeth differ in shape and the species was thus heterodont. Most teeth are small and tricuspid or three-pointed. In the front of the upper jaw five larger recurved teeth with a single point form a prey grab; six or seven such teeth are also interspersed with the smaller teeth more to the back of the mouth. There are at least seventeen and perhaps as much as 25 tricuspid teeth in the upper jaw, for a total of perhaps 74 teeth of all sizes in the skull. The number of teeth in the lower jaws cannot be determined.

The flexible tail did not have the stiffening rod-like vertebral extensions present in other basal pterosaurs. The wingspan has been estimated at 120 cm.

Classification

Life restoration Austriadactylus restoration.jpg
Life restoration

Austriadactylus was in 2002 assigned by the describers to a general Pterosauria incertae sedis , but some later analyses showed it to have been related to Campylognathoides and Eudimorphodon in the Campylognathoididae. It has even been suggested it was a junior synonym of Eudimorphodon, though perhaps a distinct species in that genus. The following phylogenetic analysis follows the topology of Upchurch et al. (2015). [3]

Eopterosauria

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Eudimorphodon</i> Genus of eudimorphodontid pterosaur from the Late Triassic

Eudimorphodon was a pterosaur that was discovered in 1973 by Mario Pandolfi in the town of Cene, Italy and described the same year by Rocco Zambelli. The nearly complete skeleton was retrieved from shale deposited during the Late Triassic, making Eudimorphodon one of the oldest pterosaurs known. It had a wingspan of about 100 centimeters (3.3 ft) and at the end of its long bony tail may have been a diamond-shaped flap like in the later Rhamphorhynchus. If so, the flap may have helped it steer while maneuvering in the air. Eudimorphodon is known from several skeletons, including juvenile specimens.

<i>Cearadactylus</i> Genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Cearadactylus is a genus of large anhanguerid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Romualdo Formation of Brazil, South America. Fossil remains of Cearadactylus dated back to the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous period, about 112 million years ago. The only known species is C. atrox, described and named in 1985 by Giuseppe Leonardi and Guido Borgomanero. The name refers to the Brazilian state Ceará, and combines this with Greek daktylos, "finger", a reference to the wing finger of pterosaurs. The Latin atrox means "frightful", a reference to the fearsome dentition of the species.

<i>Preondactylus</i> Genus of preondactylian pterosaur from the Late Triassic

Preondactylus is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs from the Late Triassic that inhabited what is now Italy. It contains a single known species, Preondactylus buffarinii, which was discovered by Nando Buffarini in 1982 at the Forni Dolostone near Udine in the Preone valley of the Italian Alps.

<i>Peteinosaurus</i> Genus of pterosaur from the Late Triassic

Peteinosaurus was a prehistoric genus of pterosaur. It lived in the late Triassic period in the late Norian age, and at a wingspan of around 60 cm (24 in), was one of the smallest and earliest pterosaurs, although other estimates suggest a wingspan of up to 1 m (3.3 ft).

Caviramus is a genus of caviramid pterosaur from the Late Triassic lower Kössen Formation of the Northern Calcareous Alps of Switzerland.

<i>Haopterus</i> Genus of pteranodontoid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Haopterus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. Its fossil remains dated back 124.6 million years ago.

Longchengpterus, sometimes misspelled as "Lonchengopterus", is a genus of istiodactylid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. Its fossil remains dated back about 120 million years ago.

<i>Raeticodactylus</i> Genus of raeticodactylid pterosaur from the Late Triassic

Raeticodactylus is a genus of non-pterodactyloid pterosaur from the late Norian-early Rhaetian-age Upper Triassic lower Kössen Formation of the central Austroalpine of Grisons, Switzerland. It is known from holotype BNM 14524, a single disarticulated partial skeleton including an almost complete skull, found in August 2005. This genus was named and described in 2008 by its discoverer Rico Stecher; the type species is Raeticodactylus filisurensis. The specific name refers to Filisur.

Langobardisaurus is an extinct genus of tanystropheid archosauromorph reptile, with one valid species, L. pandolfii. Its fossils have been found in Italy and Austria, and it lived during the Late Triassic period, roughly 228 to 201 million years ago. Langobardisaurus was initially described in 1994, based on fossils from the Calcare di Zorzino Formation in Northern Italy. Fossils of the genus are also known from the Forni Dolostone of Northern Italy and the Seefeld Formation of Austria.

The Forni Dolostone, also known as the Dolomia di Forni, is a Late Triassic dolomite geological formation in northeastern Italy. The formation was deposited in a lagoonal to shallow marine environment.

<i>Carniadactylus</i> Genus of pterosaur from the Late Triassic

Carniadactylus is a genus of pterosaur which existed in Europe during the Late Triassic period. The genus contains a single species, Carniadactylus rosenfeldi.

Faxinalipterus is a genus of ornithodiran archosaur, originally described as a pterosaur, from the Late Triassic Caturrita Formation of southern Brazil. A study from 2022 reinterpreted the fossil remains and instead suggests them to belong to a member of the Lagerpetidae, another clade of pterosauromorphs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eopterosauria</span> Clade of basal pterosaurs

Eopterosauria is a proposed clade of basal pterosaurs from the Triassic. The term was first used in Andres et al. (2014) to include Preondactylus, Austriadactylus, Peteinosaurus and Eudimorphodontidae. Inside the group were two other new clades, Preondactylia, which included Preondactylus and Austriadactylus, and Eudimorphodontoidea, to include Eudimorphodontidae and Raeticodactylidae. Eopterosauria was defined as "the least inclusive clade containing Preondactylus buffarinii and Eudimorphodon ranzii". The specimen BSP 1994, previously assigned to Eudimorphodon, was named the separate taxon Austriadraco in 2015, and assigned to the new family Austriadraconidae, but further classification was not described. The following phylogenetic analysis follows the topology of Andres et al. (2014).

Arcticodactylus is a genus of basal pterosaur living during the Late Triassic in the area of present Greenland. Its only species was previously attributed to Eudimorphodon, and its closest relatives may have been Eudimorphodon or Austriadraco.

Austriadraco is a genus of pterosaur living during the Late Triassic in the area of present Austria. Its only species—Austriadraco dallavecchiai—was previously attributed to Eudimorphodon, and its closest relatives may have been Eudimorphodon or Arcticodactylus.

<i>Bergamodactylus</i> Genus of campylognathoidid pterosaur from the Late Triassic

Bergamodactylus is a putative genus of basal pterosaur which lived during the Late Triassic in the area of present-day Bergamo province in Italy. Its only species is Bergamodactylus wildi. It was named in 2015 based on a pterosaur specimen which had previously been regarded as a juvenile Eudimorphodon or as identical to Carniadactylus. Some Triassic pterosaur specialists consider the distinguishing features of Bergamodactylus to be invalid or insufficient to distinguish it from Carniadactylus, and thus retain the specimen in that genus.

<i>Caelestiventus</i> Genus of pterosaur from the Late Triassic

Caelestiventus is a pterosaur genus from the Late Triassic found in western North America. The type species, Caelestiventus hanseni, honors Robin Hansen, the Bureau of Land Management geologist (BLM), who facilitated access to the excavation site.

<i>Seazzadactylus</i> Genus of austriadraconid pterosaur from the Late Triassic

Seazzadactylus is a basal pterosaur genus that lived during the late Triassic in the area of present Italy.

Pachagnathus is an extinct genus of non-pterodactyloid pterosaur from the late Norian–early Rhaetian-aged Quebrada del Barro Formation of Argentina. It lived in the Late Triassic period, and is one of the only known definitive Triassic pterosaurs from the southern hemisphere. It is also one of the few known continental Triassic pterosaurs, indicating that the absence of early pterosaurs in both the southern hemisphere and terrestrial environments is likely a sampling bias, and not a true absence.

Yelaphomte is an extinct genus of non-pterodactyloid pterosaur from the late Norian–early Rhaetian-aged Quebrada del Barro Formation of Argentina. It lived in the Late Triassic period, and is one of the only known definitive Triassic pterosaurs from the southern hemisphere. It was a small and crested pterosaur, although its small size may be due to immaturity. It is also one of the few known continental Triassic pterosaurs, indicating that the absence of early pterosaurs in both the southern hemisphere and terrestrial environments is likely a sampling bias, and not a true absence.

References

  1. Barrett, P. M., Butler, R. J., Edwards, N. P., & Milner, A. R. (2008). Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas. Zitteliana, 61-107.
  2. Müller R.T., Ezcurra M.D., Garcia M.S., Agnolín F.L., Stocker M.R., Novas F.E., Soares M.B., Kellner A.W.A. & Nesbitt S.J. (2023). "New reptile shows dinosaurs and pterosaurs evolved among diverse precursors". Nature 620(7974): p. 589–594. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06359-z
  3. Upchurch, P.; Andres, B.B.; Butler, R.J.; Barrett, P.M. (2015). "An analysis of pterosaurian biogeography: implications for the evolutionary history and fossil record quality of the first flying vertebrates". Historical Biology. 27 (6): 697–717. Bibcode:2015HBio...27..697U. doi:10.1080/08912963.2014.939077. PMC   4536946 . PMID   26339122.