Haliskia peterseni, a new anhanguerian pterosaur from the late Early Cretaceous of Australia

Abstract

Pterosaur remains have been reported from every continent; however, pterosaur skeletons remain rare. A new pterosaur is presented here, Haliskia peterseni gen. et sp. nov., constituting the most complete specimen from Australia from the upper Albian Toolebuc Formation of the Eromanga Basin (Queensland, Australia). A combination of features, including the presence of a premaxillary crest and curved teeth, and the morphology of the scapulocoracoid, support its referral to Anhangueria. Haliskia can be distinguished from all other anhanguerian pterosaurs based on two dental characters: the 4th and 5th tooth pairs are smaller than the 3rd and 6th, and the 2nd and 5th alveoli are smaller than 3–4 and 6–8. Moreover, the hyoid is 70% the total length of the mandible. The phylogenetic analyses presented here place Haliskia within Anhangueria. In one analysis, Haliskia and Ferrodraco are resolved as sister taxa, with Tropeognathus mesembrinus sister to that clade. The other resolves Haliskia, Mythunga and Ferrodraco in a polytomy within Tropeognathinae. The new Australian pterosaur attests to the success of Anhangueria during the latest Early Cretaceous and suggests that the Australian forms were more taxonomically diverse and palaeobiogeographically complex than previously recognized.