Caelestiventus hanseni gen. et sp. nov. extends the desert-dwelling pterosaur record back 65 million years

Britt, Brooks B.; Vecchia, Fabio M. Dalla; Chure, Daniel J.; Engelmann, George; Whiting, Michael F.; Scheetz, Rodney D.

doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0627-y

Cited by 38 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…1A-1C). In the reduced strict consensus tree produced in the analysis by Britt et al (2018), the earliest diverging pterosaur clade contained a pair of taxa-Austriadraco dallavecchiai and Arcticodactylus cromptonellus-a similar result to that obtained by Kellner (2015), who named this clade Austriadraconidae (see also, Dalla Vecchia, 2009a. But again, this result differs from the analysis of both Upchurch et al (2015) and Dalla Vecchia (2019).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…1A and 1B). Similarly, a close affinity between Eudimorphodon ranzii and Raeticodactylidae-which comprises Raeticodactylus filisurensis and Caviramus schesaplanensis according to Andres, Clark & Xu (2014)-was found by Britt et al (2018) but not Dalla Vecchia (2019) Figure 1 Previous recent hypotheses of early pterosaur relationships. (A) The results of the reduced taxon analysis by Britt et al (2018); (B) the results of the analysis by Dalla Vecchia (2019); (C) the results of the analysis by Andres, Clark & Xu (2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…However, the results of these two analyses differ in that in the trees produced by Andres, Clark & Xu (2014), the Preondactylia form the sister-taxon to the clade comprising Peteinosaurus zambellii and Eudimorphodontoidea, a topology also supported by Upchurch et al (2015). These clades together form Eopterosauria, a group not supported in the analysis by Britt et al (2018) or Dalla Vecchia (2019). Equally, in the analysis by Dalla Vecchia (2019) no support was found for the clade Eudimorphodontidae (sensu Dalla Vecchia, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Pterosaurs were a diverse, disparate and highly specialised group of terrestrial reptiles that represent the oldest set of vertebrates currently understood to have achieved powered flight (Benton, 1985;Unwin, 2003;Andres, 2006;Barrett et al, 2008;Andres, Clark & Xu, 2014;Britt et al, 2018). Originating at some time in either the Early or Middle Triassic (Nesbitt et al, 2017), and first appearing in the fossil record in the middle of the Late Triassic (Barrett et al, 2008;Bennett, 2013), the pterosaurs went on to thrive throughout the Mesozoic Era as one of the dominant groups of land animals, lasting right up until the very end of the Cretaceous Period and achieving a global distribution (Unwin, 2003;Dalla Vecchia, 2004;Unwin & Martill, 2007;Barrett et al, 2008;Kellner et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within Pterosauria, which currently comprises the same set of taxa as the clade Pterosauromorpha (see, Nesbitt, Desojo & Irmis, 2013), there exists a number of distinct subgroups, many of which were already present in the Late Triassic. The many proposed subgroups within Pterosauria include the Eopterosauria, which is believed to comprise Preondactylia and Eudimorphodontoidea (Andres, Clark & Xu, 2014), and Macronychoptera, which comprises, inter alia, Dimorphodontidae, Anurognathidae and Pterodactyloidea (Britt et al, 2018;Dalla Vecchia, 2019) (Figs. 1A-1C).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Testing pterosaur ingroup relationships through broader sampling of avemetatarsalian taxa and characters and a range of phylogenetic analysis techniques

Baron

2020

PeerJ

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The pterosaurs first appear in the fossil record in the middle of the Late Triassic. Their earliest representatives are known from Northern Hemisphere localities but, by the end of the Jurassic Period, this clade of flying reptiles achieved a global distribution, as well as high levels of diversity and disparity. Our understanding of early pterosaur evolution and the fundamental interrelationships within Pterosauria has improved dramatically in recent decades. However, there is still debate about how the various pterosaur subgroups relate to one another and about which taxa comprise these. Many recent phylogenetic analyses, while sampling well from among the known Triassic and Early Jurassic pterosaurs, have not included many non-pterosaurian ornithodirans or other avemetatarsalians. Given the close relationship between these groups of archosaurs, the omission of other ornithodirans and avemetatarsalians has the potential to adversely affect the results of phylogenetic analyses, in terms of character optimisation and ingroup relationships recovered. This study has addressed this issue and tests the relationships between the early diverging pterosaur taxa following the addition of avemetatarsalian taxa and anatomical characters to an existing early pterosaur dataset. This study has, for the first time, included taxa that represent the aphanosaurs, lagerpetids, silesaurids and dinosaurs, in addition to early pterosaurs. Anatomical characters used in other recent studies of archosaurs and early dinosaurs have also been incorporated. By expanding the outgroup taxa and anatomical character coverage in this pterosaur dataset, better resolution between the taxa within certain early pterosaur subclades has been achieved and stronger support for some existing clades has been found; other purported clades of early pterosaurs have not been found in this analysis—for example there is no support for a monophyletic Eopterosauria or Eudimorphodontidae. Further support has been found for a sister-taxon relationship between Peteinosaurus zambelli and Macronychoptera, a clade here named Zambellisauria (clade nov.), as well as for a monophyletic and early diverging Preondactylia. Some analyses also support the existence of a clade that falls as sister-taxon to the zambellisaurs, here named Caviramidae (clade nov.). Furthermore, some support has been found for a monophyletic Austriadraconidae at the base of Pterosauria. Somewhat surprisingly, Lagerpetidae is recovered outside of Ornithodira sensu stricto, meaning that, based upon current definitions at least, pterosaurs fall within Dinosauromorpha in this analysis. However, fundamental ornithodiran interrelationships were not the focus of this study and this particular result should be treated with caution for now. However, these results do further highlight the need for broader taxon and character sampling in phylogenetic analyses, and the effects of outgroup choice on determining ingroup relationships.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Testing pterosaur ingroup relationships through broader sampling of avemetatarsalian taxa and characters and a range of phylogenetic analysis techniques

Baron

2020

PeerJ

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Braincase and neuroanatomy of the lagerpetid Dromomeron gregorii (Archosauria, Pterosauromorpha) with comments on the early evolution of the braincase and associated soft tissues in Avemetatarsalia

Bronzati,

Langer,

Ezcurra

et al. 2023

The Anatomical Record

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The anatomy of the braincase and associated soft tissues of the lagerpetid Dromomeron gregorii (Archosauria: Avemetatarsalia) from the Late Triassic of the United States is here described. This corresponds to the first detailed description of cranial materials of Lagerpetidae, an enigmatic group of Late Triassic (c. 236–200 Million years ago) animals that are the closest known relatives of pterosaurs, the flying reptiles. The braincase of D. gregorii is characterized by the presence of an anteriorly elongated laterosphenoid and a postparietal, features observed in stem‐archosaurs but that were still unknown in early members of the avian lineage of archosaurs. Using micro‐computed tomography (CT‐scan data), we present digital reconstructions of the brain and endosseous labyrinth of D. gregorii. The brain of D. gregorii exhibits a floccular lobe of the cerebellum that projects within the space of the semicircular canals. The semicircular canals are relatively large when compared to other archosauromorphs, with the anterior canal exhibiting a circular shape. These features of the sensory structures of D. gregorii are more similar to those of pterosaurs than to those of other early avemetatarsalians. In sum, the braincase anatomy of D. gregorii shows a combination of plesiomorphic and apomorphic features in the phylogenetic context of Archosauria and suggests that the still poorly understood early evolution of the braincase in avemetatarsalians is complex, with a scenario of independent acquisitions and losses of character states.

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Cranial anatomy of Libognathus sheddiSmall, 1997 (Parareptilia, Procolophonidae) from the Upper Triassic Dockum Group of West Texas, USA

Mueller,

Small,

Jenkins

et al. 2023

The Anatomical Record

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Libognathus sheddi, a leptopleuronine procolophonid from the Upper Triassic Cooper Canyon Formation, Dockum Group, West Texas, was based on an isolated left dentary and partial coronoid. New material referable to Libognathus sheddi, from the Cooper Canyon Formation, provides new information on the cranial anatomy. This new cranial material includes the antorbital portion of a skull, a left maxilla and premaxilla, quadratojugals, and dentaries, including intact tooth rows in the upper and lower jaws. Libognathus shows autapomorphies including; dentary deep with ventral margin oblique to tooth row immediately from the symphysis at ≥23°; anterior projecting coronoid contacting the lingual surface of the dentary underlying the last two dentary teeth; reduced contact between the lacrimal and the nasal; suborbital foramen formed by the maxilla and ectopterygoid, excluding the palatine; a posterior supralabial foramen shared by the maxilla and jugal; a Y‐shaped antorbital pillar formed by the palatine, and massive orbitonasale and facial foramina (shared with unnamed southwest USA leptopleuronines). Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Libognathus is a highly derived leptopleuronine procolophonid, closely related to Hypsognathus fenneri and other southwest USA Revueltian leptopleuronines, which fall out as sister taxa to Hypsognathus, a relationship supported by a maxillary dentition restricted anterior to the orbital margin, a possibly synapomorphic orbitonasale septum in the form of an “antorbital pillar” created by the palatine, an anteroventral process of the jugal, and the presence of a small diastema between the first dentary tooth and the more posterior dentition. Libognathus exhibits a possible ankylosed protothecodont tooth implantation with frequent replacement, differing from some other proposed procolophonid implantation and replacement models. Chinle Formation and Dockum Group leptopleuronines are restricted to the Revueltian teilzone/holochronozone, making them possible Revueltian index taxa.

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Caelestiventus hanseni gen. et sp. nov. extends the desert-dwelling pterosaur record back 65 million years

Cited by 38 publications

References 27 publications

Testing pterosaur ingroup relationships through broader sampling of avemetatarsalian taxa and characters and a range of phylogenetic analysis techniques

Testing pterosaur ingroup relationships through broader sampling of avemetatarsalian taxa and characters and a range of phylogenetic analysis techniques

Braincase and neuroanatomy of the lagerpetid Dromomeron gregorii (Archosauria, Pterosauromorpha) with comments on the early evolution of the braincase and associated soft tissues in Avemetatarsalia

Cranial anatomy of Libognathus sheddiSmall, 1997 (Parareptilia, Procolophonidae) from the Upper Triassic Dockum Group of West Texas, USA

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