Dorygnathus

Abstract: The Posidonia Shale (Lower Toarcian, Upper Lias) is famous for its fossilized vertebrates Since the beginning of the excavations of the State Museum of Natural History in Brunswick in 2014, a number of isolated bones of pterosaurs have been unearthed and tentatively referred to Dorygnathus banthensis (Theodori 1830) The findings of pterosaurs are a curiosity in northern Germany, as they are usually known from famous sites in southern Germany Using 3D scans, sketches and high-resolution photographs, the bones are analyzed individually and compared to findings described in the literature Based on the dentition and proportions of the lower jaw, the proportions of the humerus, the lengths of the flight finger phalanges and on the lower leg with adhered tibia and fibula, most of the bones seem to belong to small, probably juvenile, individuals of Dorygnathus banthensis The characters of the humerus and the phalanges of the flight digit suggest that flight in Dorygnathus banthensis was possible Furthermore, the remains of teeth yield information about the cycle of tooth replacement

Abstract: A pterosaur tibia-fibula is described from Toarcian shales ("Marne de Flize") near the city of Charleville-Mezieres (Ardennes, northeastern France). The morphology of this element, especially the reduced fibula partially fused to the tibia, suggests that it belongs to the rhamphorhynchid Dorygnathus, which is well represented in the Toarcian Posidonienschiefer of Germany and has also been reported from the Toarcian of Nancy (eastern France).

Abstract: The Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) pterosaur Parapsicephalus purdoni Newton, 1888 from the Whitby Mudstone Formation of North Yorkshire is known from a three-dimensionally preserved skull with a three-dimensional endocast of the brain. Since Newton’s original description, its taxonomic status has been contentious. Several cladistic studies have placed it within either Dimorphodontidae or Rhamphorhynchidae. Some investigators have suggested that it is a junior synonym of the Toarcian pterosaur Dorygnathus from the Posidonia Shale of south-western Germany. The holotype skull (GSM 3166) is redescribed and its taxonomic status re-evaluated. Several apomorphies suggest it belongs in the Rhamphorhynchidae while autapomorphies of the palate and jugal distinguish Parapsicephalus from Dorygnathus, supporting the continued separation of the two genera.

Abstract: A new basal non-pterodactyloid pterosaur, Changchengopterus pani gen. et sp. nov., is erected, on the basis of a nearly complete postcranial skeleton. The new taxon is distinguished by relatively short extensions of the prezygapophyses, postzygapophyses and haemal arches of the caudal vertebrae; a humerus that has a subtriangular deltopectoral crest; limb elements that decrease in length in the following order: ulna> wing-phalange 2 > wing-phalange 3 = wing-phalange 1>humerus >tibia>femur>wing-metacarpal. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Changchengopterus is a basal member of rhamphorhynchoids, and more closely related to Dorygnathus than to other rhamphorhychoids. The geological age of the Changchengopterus-bearing sediments is no latter than the end of the Late Jurassic and it is possible Middle Jurassic.