A new and large monofenestratan reveals the evolutionary transition to the pterodactyloid pterosaurs

For over a century, there was a major gap in our understanding of the evolution of the flying Mesozoic reptiles, the pterosaurs, with a major morphological gap between the early forms and the derived pterodactyloids. Recent discoveries have found a cluster of intermediate forms that have the head an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current biology Vol. 34; no. 23; p. 5607
Main Authors: Hone, David William Elliott, Fitch, Adam, Selzer, Stefan, Lauer, René, Lauer, Bruce
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England 02.12.2024
Subjects:
Animals
Biological Evolution
Dinosaurs - anatomy & histology
Dinosaurs - classification
Fossils - anatomy & histology
Phylogeny
Reptiles - anatomy & histology
Reptiles - classification
Reptiles - physiology
Wings, Animal - anatomy & histology
Wukongopteridae
phylogeny
Pterosauria
Monofenestrata
Solnhofen
non-pterodactyloid
ISSN:1879-0445, 1879-0445
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:For over a century, there was a major gap in our understanding of the evolution of the flying Mesozoic reptiles, the pterosaurs, with a major morphological gap between the early forms and the derived pterodactyloids. Recent discoveries have found a cluster of intermediate forms that have the head and neck of the pterodactyloids but the body of the early grade, yet this still leaves fundamental gaps between these intermediates and both earlier and more derived pterosaurs. Here, we describe a new and large Jurassic pterosaur, Skiphosoura bavarica gen. et sp. nov., preserved in three dimensions, that helps bridge the gap between current intermediate pterosaurs and the pterodactyloids. A new phylogeny shows that there is a general progression of key characteristics of increasing head size, increasing length of neck and wing metacarpal, modification to the fifth toe that supports the rear wing membrane, and gradual reduction in tail length and complexity from earlier pterosaurs into the first pterodactyloids. This also shows a clear evolution of the increasing terrestrial competence of derived pterosaurs. Furthermore, this closes gaps between the intermediates and their ancestors and descendants, and it firmly marks the rhamphorhynchines and ctenochasmatid clades as, respectively, being the closest earliest and latest groups to this succession of transitional forms.
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content type line 23
ISSN:1879-0445
1879-0445
DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.023