Tapejara wellnhoferi

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Tapejara wellnhoferi
Temporal range: Aptian-Albian,
112  Ma
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Tapejara.jpg
Reconstructed skeleton
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Family: Tapejaridae
Subfamily: Tapejarinae
Tribe: Tapejarini
Genus: Tapejara
Kellner, 1989
Species:
T. wellnhoferi
Binomial name
Tapejara wellnhoferi
Kellner, 1989

Tapejara (from a Tupi word meaning "the lord of the path" [1] ) is a genus of Brazilian pterosaur from the Cretaceous Period (Santana Group, dating to about 127 to 112 million years ago). Tapejara crests consisted of a semicircular crest over the snout, and a bony prong which extended back behind the head. It was a small pterosaur, with a wingspan of approximately 1.23–1.3 metres (4.0–4.3 ft). [2]

Contents

History of discovery

Map of the Araripe Basin. The Santana Group, from which Tapejara is known, is displayed in dark blue. Araripe Basin map - formations and resources.jpg
Map of the Araripe Basin. The Santana Group, from which Tapejara is known, is displayed in dark blue.

The holotype of Tapejara (MN 6595-V, originally catalogued as CD-R 080) consists of a partial skull. It was described in 1989 by Alexander W. A. Kellner, who recognised it as a new genus and species. Kellner named it Tapejara wellnhoferi, ostensibly translating to "Wellnhofer's old being". [3] However, the name actually derives from the Tupí-Guaraní tape ("path") and jara ("lord"), and therefore, T. wellnhoferi actually translates to "Wellnhofer's lord of the path". [1] Another, more complete specimen, AMNH 24440, was discovered in the same year as Kellner's original description, in a calcareous concretion. The providence of this specimen is unclear, though it likely comes from either the Jardim or Santana do Cariri localities. AMNH 24440 consists of a partial skull, a partial mandible (lower jaw), and an anterior (front) cervical (neck) vertebra. [4] In 2011, another, SMNK PAL 1137, was described, also found in a concretion. This specimen consists of a fairly complete premaxillo-maxilla, a unit consisting of the fused premaxillae and maxillae, and much of the braincase. The locality from which it originates is uncertain, though given that the concretion was originally blue, it likely comes from the Sierra de Maosina locality, part of the Romualdo Formation of the Santana Group. [2]

Species and classification

Reconstructed profiles of Tapejara wellnhoferi (A), Tupandactylus navigans (B), and Tupandactylus imperator (C), with hypothetical markings. Tapejarines mmartyniuk.png
Reconstructed profiles of Tapejara wellnhoferi (A), Tupandactylus navigans (B), and Tupandactylus imperator (C), with hypothetical markings.

The type species and only one currently recognized as valid by most researchers, is T. wellnhoferi. The specific name honors German paleontologist Peter Wellnhofer. Two larger species, originally named Tapejara imperator and Tapejara navigans, were later also placed in the genus Tapejara upon discovery. However, several studies have shown that T. imperator and T. navigans are significantly different from T. wellnhoferi and therefore were reclassified into new genera. The species T. imperator was given its own genus, Tupandactylus , by Alexander Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. [5] Unwin and Martill found that T. imperator and T. navigans belong in the same genus, and named them Ingridia imperator and I. navigans, respectively. This genus name honored Wellnhofer's late wife Ingrid. [6]

Because Tupandactylus was named first, it retained priority over the name Ingridia. To complicate matters, both the name Tupandactylus and Ingridia used the former Tapejara imperator as their type species. [7] The scientists who described Tupandactylus did not name a Tupandactylus navigans (but instead suggested it was synonymous to Tupandactylus imperator), and Tapejara navigans was not formally reclassified as a distinct species of Tupandactylus until 2011. [8]

Cast Cast of Tapejara wellnhoferi - Pterosaurs Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs.jpg
Cast

The cladogram below follows a phylogenetic analysis by Kellner, the describer of Tapejara, and colleagues in 2019. They recovered Tapejara within the Tapejarini (a tribe within the family Tapejaridae), sister taxon to three other genera: Europejara , Caiuajara , and Tupandactylus . [9]

Tapejaromorpha

Paleobiology

Comparisons between the scleral rings of Tapejara and modern birds and reptiles suggest that it may have been cathemeral, active throughout the day at short intervals. [10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/41/41133/tde-14082021-135310/publico/Lucas_Piazentin_vol_II_CORRIG_compac.pdf
  2. 1 2 Eck, K.; Elgin, R.A.; Frey, E. (2011). "On the osteology of Tapejara wellnhoferi KELLNER 1989 and the first occurrence of a multiple specimen assemblage from the Santana Formation, Araripe Basin, NE-Brazil". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology . 130 (2): 277–296. Bibcode:2011SwJP..130..277E. doi:10.1007/s13358-011-0024-5.
  3. Kellner, A. W. A (1989). "A new Edentate Pterosaur of the lower Cretaceous from the Araripe Basin, Northeast Brazil". A new Edentate Pterosaur of the lower Cretaceous from the Araripe Basin, Northeast Brazil. 61 (4): 439–446. ISSN   0001-3765.
  4. Wellnhofer, Peter; Kellner, Alexander Wilhelm Armin (1991). "The Skull of Tapejara wellnhoferi Kellner (Reptilia, Pterosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous Santana Formation of the Araripe Basin, Northeastern Brazil". Mitteilungen der Bayerischen Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Histor. Geologie. 31: 89––106.
  5. Kellner, A.W.A.; Campos, D.A. (2007). "Short note on the ingroup relationships of the Tapejaridae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea". Boletim do Museu Nacional. 75: 1–14.
  6. Unwin, D. M. and Martill, D. M. (2007). "Pterosaurs of the Crato Formation." In Martill, D. M., Bechly, G. and Loveridge, R. F. (eds), The Crato Fossil Beds of Brazil: Window into an Ancient World. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge), pp. 475–524.
  7. Naish, D. (2008). "Crato Formation fossils and the new tapejarids." Weblog entry. Tetrapod Zoology. January 18, 2008. Accessed January 31, 2008 ( "Tetrapod Zoology : Crato Formation fossils and the new tapejarids". Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2008.).
  8. Pinheiro, Felipe L.; Fortier, Daniel C.; Schultz, Cesar L.; De Andrade, José Artur F.G.; Bantim, Renan A.M. (2011). "New information on Tupandactylus imperator, with comments on the relationships of Tapejaridae (Pterosauria)". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 56 (3): 567–580. doi: 10.4202/app.2010.0057 .
  9. Kellner, Alexander W. A.; Weinschütz, Luiz C.; Holgado, Borja; Bantim, Renan A. M.; Sayão, Juliana M. (August 19, 2019). "A new toothless pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea) from Southern Brazil with insights into the paleoecology of a Cretaceous desert". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 91 (suppl 2): e20190768. doi: 10.1590/0001-3765201920190768 . ISSN   0001-3765. PMID   31432888.
  10. Schmitz, L.; Motani, R. (2011). "Nocturnality in dinosaurs inferred from scleral ring and orbit morphology". Science. 332 (6030): 705–8. Bibcode:2011Sci...332..705S. doi:10.1126/science.1200043. PMID   21493820. S2CID   33253407.