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Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria)

Abstract. The taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironmental context of azhdarchid pterosaurs are reviewed. All purported pteranodontid, tapejarid, and azhdarchid specimens from the Cenomanian Kem Kem beds of Morocco are referred to a single azhdarchid taxon, Alanqa saharica. The four pro...

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Autor principal: Averianov, Alexander
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Pensoft Publishers 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4141157/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25152671
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.432.7913
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author Averianov, Alexander
author_facet Averianov, Alexander
author_sort Averianov, Alexander
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description Abstract. The taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironmental context of azhdarchid pterosaurs are reviewed. All purported pteranodontid, tapejarid, and azhdarchid specimens from the Cenomanian Kem Kem beds of Morocco are referred to a single azhdarchid taxon, Alanqa saharica. The four proposed autapomorphies of Eurazhdarcho langendorfensis from the lower Maastrichtian Sebeş Formation of Romania are based on misinterpretations of material and this taxon is likely a subjective junior synonym of Hatzegopteryx thambema. Among 54 currently reported azhdarchid occurrences (51 skeletal remains and 3 tracks) 13% are from lacustrine deposits, 17% from fluvial plain deposits, 17% from coastal plain deposits, 18% from estuarine and lagoonal deposits, and 35% from costal marine deposits. Azhdarchids likely inhabited a variety of environments, but were abundant near large lakes and rivers and most common in nearshore marine paleoenvironments.
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spelling pubmed-41411572014-08-22 Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria) Averianov, Alexander Zookeys Research Article Abstract. The taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironmental context of azhdarchid pterosaurs are reviewed. All purported pteranodontid, tapejarid, and azhdarchid specimens from the Cenomanian Kem Kem beds of Morocco are referred to a single azhdarchid taxon, Alanqa saharica. The four proposed autapomorphies of Eurazhdarcho langendorfensis from the lower Maastrichtian Sebeş Formation of Romania are based on misinterpretations of material and this taxon is likely a subjective junior synonym of Hatzegopteryx thambema. Among 54 currently reported azhdarchid occurrences (51 skeletal remains and 3 tracks) 13% are from lacustrine deposits, 17% from fluvial plain deposits, 17% from coastal plain deposits, 18% from estuarine and lagoonal deposits, and 35% from costal marine deposits. Azhdarchids likely inhabited a variety of environments, but were abundant near large lakes and rivers and most common in nearshore marine paleoenvironments. Pensoft Publishers 2014-08-11 /pmc/articles/PMC4141157/ /pubmed/25152671 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.432.7913 Text en Alexander Averianov http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Averianov, Alexander
Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria)
title Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria)
title_full Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria)
title_fullStr Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria)
title_full_unstemmed Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria)
title_short Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria)
title_sort review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of azhdarchidae (pterosauria)
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4141157/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25152671
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.432.7913
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