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A small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous, the age of flying giants
Pterosaur fossils from the Campanian–Maastrichtian of North America have been reported from the continental interior, but few have been described from the west coast. The first pterosaur from the Campanian Northumberland Formation (Nanaimo Group) of Hornby Island, British Columbia, is represented he...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
The Royal Society
2016
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5108964/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27853614 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160333 |
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author | Martin-Silverstone, Elizabeth Witton, Mark P. Arbour, Victoria M. Currie, Philip J. |
author_facet | Martin-Silverstone, Elizabeth Witton, Mark P. Arbour, Victoria M. Currie, Philip J. |
author_sort | Martin-Silverstone, Elizabeth |
collection | PubMed |
description | Pterosaur fossils from the Campanian–Maastrichtian of North America have been reported from the continental interior, but few have been described from the west coast. The first pterosaur from the Campanian Northumberland Formation (Nanaimo Group) of Hornby Island, British Columbia, is represented here by a humerus, dorsal vertebrae (including three fused notarial vertebrae), and other fragments. The elements have features typical of Azhdarchoidea, an identification consistent with dominance of this group in the latest Cretaceous. The new material is significant for its size and ontogenetic stage: the humerus and vertebrae indicate a wingspan of ca 1.5 m, but histological sections and bone fusions indicate the individual was approaching maturity at time of death. Pterosaurs of this size are exceedingly rare in Upper Cretaceous strata, a phenomenon commonly attributed to smaller pterosaurs becoming extinct in the Late Cretaceous as part of a reduction in pterosaur diversity and disparity. The absence of small juveniles of large species—which must have existed—in the fossil record is evidence of a preservational bias against small pterosaurs in the Late Cretaceous, and caution should be applied to any interpretation of latest Cretaceous pterosaur diversity and success. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5108964 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2016 |
publisher | The Royal Society |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-51089642016-11-16 A small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous, the age of flying giants Martin-Silverstone, Elizabeth Witton, Mark P. Arbour, Victoria M. Currie, Philip J. R Soc Open Sci Biology (Whole Organism) Pterosaur fossils from the Campanian–Maastrichtian of North America have been reported from the continental interior, but few have been described from the west coast. The first pterosaur from the Campanian Northumberland Formation (Nanaimo Group) of Hornby Island, British Columbia, is represented here by a humerus, dorsal vertebrae (including three fused notarial vertebrae), and other fragments. The elements have features typical of Azhdarchoidea, an identification consistent with dominance of this group in the latest Cretaceous. The new material is significant for its size and ontogenetic stage: the humerus and vertebrae indicate a wingspan of ca 1.5 m, but histological sections and bone fusions indicate the individual was approaching maturity at time of death. Pterosaurs of this size are exceedingly rare in Upper Cretaceous strata, a phenomenon commonly attributed to smaller pterosaurs becoming extinct in the Late Cretaceous as part of a reduction in pterosaur diversity and disparity. The absence of small juveniles of large species—which must have existed—in the fossil record is evidence of a preservational bias against small pterosaurs in the Late Cretaceous, and caution should be applied to any interpretation of latest Cretaceous pterosaur diversity and success. The Royal Society 2016-08-31 /pmc/articles/PMC5108964/ /pubmed/27853614 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160333 Text en © 2016 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Biology (Whole Organism) Martin-Silverstone, Elizabeth Witton, Mark P. Arbour, Victoria M. Currie, Philip J. A small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous, the age of flying giants |
title | A small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous, the age of flying giants |
title_full | A small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous, the age of flying giants |
title_fullStr | A small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous, the age of flying giants |
title_full_unstemmed | A small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous, the age of flying giants |
title_short | A small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous, the age of flying giants |
title_sort | small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest cretaceous, the age of flying giants |
topic | Biology (Whole Organism) |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5108964/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27853614 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160333 |
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