| |
In this article I describe numerous dental remains, tubular bone fragments, and jaw fragments of a new species of the Cimoliopteridae family (Pterosauria, Pteranodontoidea, Ornithocheirae, Targaryendraconia) from the Cenomanian deposits of the Tambov, Ryazan, and Moscow regions. The described Aetodactylus krestovskiensis sp. nov. differs from the known taxa of the Ornithocheirae clade in its morphological elements of the jaws, the shape of the teeth, and the proportions of the skeleton.
Fossil remains of this group date from the Early to Late Cretaceous (Valanginian – Turonian stages), about 139.8 – 92.5 million years ago. Ornithocheirae have been found all over the world, except Antarctica, although most genera have been discovered in Europe, Asia, and South America [Barrett P.M. et al., 2008]. In Russia, remains of Ornithocheirae, large toothed pterosaurs, often with developed head crests [Unwin D.M., 2006; Witton M., 2013], like those of azhdarchids, are fragmentary and are represented by isolated teeth or incomplete bones [Khozatsky L.I., 1995; Unwin D.M., Bakhurina N.N., 2000; Averianov A.O., 2004; Averianov A.O. et al., 2005; Averianov A.O., 2007]. Most of the finds are known from the Cenomanian deposits in the Volga region, but the remains of ornithocheir pterosaurs are also known from the Albian-Cenomanian deposits in Central Russia [Averianov A.O., 2004; Averianov A.O., 2007]. The first remains of pterosaurs from the territory of modern Russia were described in 1953 [Glikman L.S., 1953], and were later attributed to cf. Anhanguera [Khozatsky L.I., 1995; Unwin D.M., Bakhurina N.N., 2000] and to cf. Coloborhynchus [Averianov A.O., 2007]. Pterosaur remains in Russia are generally very rare, so the description of a new species of these extinct animals is of great importance for understanding the paleoecology and paleogeography not only of the Ornithocheirae clade, but of the superorder Pterosauria as a whole.
Keywords:Pterosaurs, Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Ornithocheirae, Targaryendraconia, Cimoliopteridae, Ornithocheiridae, Aetodactylus halli, Aetodactylus krestovskiensis, pterosaurs of Russia, pterosaurs of the Tambov region, pterosaurs of the Ryazan region, pterosaurs of the Moscow region, Cenomanian pterosaurs.
|
LEGAL
INFORMATION:
