Preondactylus

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Preondactylus
Temporal range: Late Triassic, Carnian or Norian
Preondactylus buffarinii 2.jpg
Fossil cast
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Clade: Preondactylia
Genus: Preondactylus
Wild, 1984
Species:
P. bufarinii
Binomial name
Preondactylus bufarinii
Wild, 1984

Preondactylus is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs from the Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian [1] or late Norian, [2] about 217-214 million years ago) [3] 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. [4]

Contents

Discovery

Fossil wing bones Preondactylus.jpg
Fossil wing bones

When Buffarini first discovered Preondactylus, the thin slab of bituminous, dolomitic limestone containing the fossil was accidentally broken into pieces while being extracted. After reassembly the rock was cleaned with water by him and his wife and the marl and in it the bone was washed away and lost. All that was left was a negative imprint on the stone, of which a silicon rubber cast was made to allow for subsequent study of the otherwise lost remains. Most of the skeleton is known, but the posterior portions of the skull have not been preserved. [4] This first specimen is the holotype: MFSN-1770.

Cast of a Preondactylus buffarinii Preondactylus cast.jpg
Cast of a Preondactylus buffarinii

A second, disarticulated specimen, MFSN-1891, was found at the same locale in 1984 about 150–200 meters (490–650 ft) deeper into the strata than the original find. The second specimen appears to have been preserved in the gastric pellet of a predatory fish, which had consumed the pterosaur and vomited up the indigestible pieces that would later fossilize. [4] More detailed knowledge of the variability of Triassic pterosaurs has made the identification of this specimen as Preondactylus uncertain, and it may even be that the remains are not those of a pterosaur at all.

A third specimen is MFSN 25161, a partial skull, lacking the lower jaws.

Description

Restoration Preondactylus NT.jpg
Restoration

Preondactylus had single cusp teeth, meaning they had one point on each tooth. [4] Its diet either consisted of fish, insects or both, but there is still debate going on as the tooth structure could indicate either diet (or both). The holotype had a wingspan of 45 cm (1.48 ft), while a larger referred specimen is estimated to have a wingspan of 1.5 m (4.9 ft). [5] The short wings are considered a "primitive" feature for pterosaurs, but Preondactylus was a fully developed flier.

Phylogeny

The species was described and named by Rupert Wild in 1984. The genus name refers to Preone, the specific name honours Buffarini. Rupert classified the new species within Rhamphorhynchidae, of which group very old species are known such as Dorygnathus , but soon it was understood the form was much more basal. A cladistic analysis by David Unwin found Preondactylus as the most basal pterosaur, and the species was accordingly used by him for a node clade definition of the clade Pterosauria. Other analyses however, have found a somewhat more derived position for Preondactylus.

Skeletal restoration Preondactylus.png
Skeletal restoration

The following phylogenetic analysis follows the topology of Upchurch et al. (2015). [6]

Eopterosauria

Preondactylus buffarinii

Austriadactylus cristatus

Peteinosaurus zambellii

Eudimorphodontidae
Raeticodactylinae

Raeticodactylus filisurensis

Caviramus schesaplanensis

Eudimorphodontinae

Arcticodactylus cromptonellus

Carniadactylus rosenfeldi

Eudimorphodon ranzii

See also

Related Research Articles

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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

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

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

Austriadactylus is a genus of "rhamphorhynchoid" pterosaur. The fossil remains were unearthed in Late Triassic rocks of Austria.

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<i>Megalancosaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

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<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.

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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.

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

Eopterosauria is a group of basal pterosaurs from the Triassic, which form their own clade. 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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eudimorphodontidae</span> Family of eopterosaurs from the Late Triassic

Eudimorphodontidae is an extinct family of early pterosaurs from the Late Triassic of Europe. It was named by Peter Wellnhofer in 1978 to include Eudimorphodon ranzii. Some phylogenetic analyses suggested that Eudimorphodontidae is a junior synonym of Campylognathoididae, however more comprehensive analyses found Eudimorphodontidae to be basal to Macronychoptera that includes Campylognathoididae and more derived pterosaurs (Breviquartossa). Wang et al. (2009) found Eudimorphodontidae to include six species, but they didn't defined the clade. Brian Andres define Eudimorphodontidae and found Peteinosaurus to be most closely related to it. Furthermore, he found monophyletic Eudimorphodon clade, and defined two subfamilies within Eudimorphodontidae. The Eudimorphodontinae includes all taxa more closely related to Eudimorphodon ranzii than to Raeticodactylus filisurensis while the Raeticodactylinae includes all taxa more closely related to Raeticodactylus filisurensis than to Eudimorphodon ranzii. More recently, Raeticodactylus and Caviramus were moved into their own family, Raeticodactylidae. The below cladogram follows that analysis.

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.

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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.

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<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.

<i>Heteropelta</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Heteropelta is an extinct genus of archosauriform, possibly a basal archosauriform, basal phytosaur or a suchian archosaur. It is known from a single species, Heteropelta boboi, which was found in the Middle Triassic Torbiditi d’Aupa Formation in Italy. The holotype is listed as specimen MFSN 46485 and was collected after 2006.

References

  1. Paul G.S. The Princeton Field Guide to Pterosaurs (Princeton University Press, 2022), p. 98
  2. Barrett, P. M., Butler, R. J., Edwards, N. P., & Milner, A. R. (2008). Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas. Zitteliana, 61-107.
  3. 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”. Nature620(7974): p. 589–594. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06359-z
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Preondactylus." In: Cranfield, Ingrid (ed.). The Illustrated Directory of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures. London: Salamander Books, Ltd. Pp. 284-285.
  5. Jenkins, F.A.; Shubin, N.H.; Gatesy, S.; Padian, K. (2001). "A diminutive pterosaur (Pterosauria: Eudimorphodontidae) from the Greenlandic Triassic". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 156 (1): 151–170. S2CID   91112389.
  6. 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. doi:10.1080/08912963.2014.939077. PMC   4536946 . PMID   26339122.

Literature