Eudimorphodon

Abstract: Body masses for 14 species of pterosaur spanning four orders of magnitude were estimated using three-dimensional, digital models. The modeled taxa comprised seven paraphyletic ‘rhamphorhynchoids’: Anurognathus ammoni, Dimorphodon macronyx, Eudimorphodon ranzii, Jeholopterus ningchengensis, Preondactylus buffarinii, Rhamphorhynchus muensteri, and Sordes pilosus; and seven pterodactyloids: Anhanguera santanae, Dsungaripterus weii, Pteranodon longiceps, Pterodaustro guinazui, Pterodactylus sp., Quetzalcoatlus northropi, Tupuxuara longicristatus. The reliability of the mass estimation methods were tested with equivalent models of six extant species of bird with masses that spanned three orders of magnitude. The close agreement between model bird mass estimates and those of the living forms provides a level of confidence in the results obtained for the extinct pterosaurs. The masses of the axial body regions (tail, trunk, neck, head), limbs, and patagia of the pterosaurs were individually estimated an...

Abstract: A new basal non-pterodactyloid pterosaur, Raeticodactylus filisurensis gen. et sp. nov., is reported. It has been discovered in shallow marine sediments from the Upper Triassic of the lowest Kossen beds (late Norian/early Rhaetian boundary) in the central Austroalpine of Canton Grisons (Switzerland). The disarticulated specimen is comprised of an almost complete skull and a partial postcranial skeleton. A high and thin bony, sagittal cranial crest characterizes the anterodorsal region of the skull. The large mandible, with an additional keel-like expansion at the front, partly matches the enlarged sagittal cranial crest. A direct and close relationship to Austriadactylus cristatus, the only known Triassic pterosaur with a bony cranial crest so far, cannot be established. The teeth of the premaxilla are monocuspid and exhibit very strongly bowed enamel wrinkles on the lingual side whereas the enamel is smooth on the labial side. These monocuspid teeth are large and fang-like. The numerous smaller teeth of the maxilla show three, four and five cusps. These are very similar to the teeth of the Triassic pterosaur Eudimorphodon ranzii. The humerus shows a thinner construction than that seen in other Triassic pterosaurs. The femur is quite unusual with a caput femoris perpendicular to the shaft. The bones of the extremities are almost twice as long as the ones from the largest Triassic specimen E. ranzii (MCSNB 2888). The newly described pterosaur is an adult, with a wingspan of approximately 135 cm. A morphofunctional analysis suggests that R. filisurensis was a highly specialized piscivore and possibly a skim-feeder.

Abstract: The Late Triassic locality of Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (Meurthe-et-Moselle, France) has yielded numerous isolated teeth belonging to archosauriform reptiles. The following tooth groups can be identified: heterodont phytosaurs, the pterosaur Eudimorphodon, the prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus, three types of putative ornithischian teeth and 13 types of carnivorous Archosauriformes indet. Apparent venom-conducting teeth belonging to a new taxon of ?Archosauriformes (Graoullyodon hacheti nov. gen. nov. sp.) are also described. From a palaeogeographical point of view, the ornithischian teeth from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (if their attribution is confirmed) are the oldest fossils of this group in Europe. The biostratigraphic distribution of the tooth forms mostly suggests a Late Norian or Early Rhaetian (depending on current interpretations) age of the deposits, but do not provide more precisions than fossils previously described from the area. The dietary habits and, consequently, the palaeoecological relationships of the different vertebrate groups discovered at Saint-Nicolas-de-Port are tentatively established: the ornithischian and prosauropod teeth reflect a herbivorous diet, whereas the other archosauriform teeth are probably from carnivores or omnivores.

Abstract: A lower jaw with multicusped teeth and a number of unique characteristics was discovered in an extensive exposure of the Upper Triassic Kossen Formation in the Northern Calcareous Alps. The ramus of the jaw is high and dominated by a row of large, oval foramina that lies parallel to the tooth row. In addition, the anterior portion of the dentary exhibits a large number of nutritive foramina and small pits, which might indicate an association with a soft tissue structure and/or the presence of a keratinous cover of that area during life. All elements of the jaw are thin-walled and hollow, possibly pneumatic. Two teeth are preserved within the dentary. One is tricuspid and the other bears four cuSPS. The teeth are noticeably small in comparison with the overall size of the ramus, being only one-third of the height of the ramus. The teeth show a strong similarity to those of the well-known basal pterosaur genus Eudimorphodon, whose jaw morphology, however, clearly differs from the specimen described in this study. The dentition and the pneumatic bone structure make an assignment to the Pterosauria plausible. Based on the great number of distinct morphological characters the specimen is described as Caviramus schesaplanensis gen. et sp. nov.