Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4683028 Journal of South American Earth Sciences 2006 7 Pages PDF
Abstract

A small to medium-sized pterodactyloid pterosaur (wingspan approximately 1.10 m) from the Upper Jurassic (middle-late Tithonian) marine deposits of the Vaca Muerta Formation of Patagonia (Los Catutos area, central Neuquén Province, Argentina) is reported. The specimen lacks the skull but constitutes a nearly complete postcranial skeleton, which includes cervical and dorsal vertebrae; a few thoracic ribs; both pectoral girdles; the left pelvic girdle; a proximal right wing (humerus, ulna, and radius) and metacarpal IV; a left wing that lacks only wing phalanx four; and both hindlimbs, the right one without the foot. Ontogenetic features suggest that the new fossil corresponds to a relatively mature individual, probably a subadult. Observed characters support its assignment to the Archaeopteroactyloidea, a basal clade within the Pterodactyloidea. This specimen is the second pterosaur from Los Catutos and the most complete Jurassic pterosaur so far known from South America.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Earth and Planetary Sciences (General)
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