Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.
Profile image
Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

New pterosaur: Keresdrakon. Old cladogram.

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.


Kellner et al. 2019
bring us a new desert pterosaur, Keresdrakon (Fig. 1). The bone is exceptionally preserved, similar to red bed Gobi Desert specimens from the Late Cretaceous. The exact age of the strata is “controversial.”  Kellner et al. nest their new specimen between Dsungaripteridae + Shenzhoupterus and Tapejaridae (omitting the unrelated Chaoyangopteridae + Azhdarchidae, see below).

From the abstract:
“Here we present a new tapejaromorph flying reptile from this site, Keresdrakon vilsoni gen. et sp. nov., which shows a unique blunt ridge on the dorsal surface of the posterior end of the dentary. Morphological and osteohistological features indicate that all recovered individuals represent late juveniles or sub-adults. This site shows the first direct evidence of sympatry in Pterosauria. The two distinct flying reptiles coexisted with a theropod dinosaur, providing a rare glimpse of a paleobiological community from a Cretaceous desert.”

Sympatry: “Occupying the same or overlapping geographic areas.” I have used the term ‘coeval’ to represent taxa from a similar formation (location and strata).

The same desert strata ‘cemetary of pterosaurs’
produced many partial specimens and several ontogenetic ages of the tapejarid, Caiuajara, which we looked at earlier here.

Figure 1. The larger bits and pieces of Keresdrakon. The bone is like bone, clearly distinct from the desert matrix.

Unfortunately
Kellner et al. have excluded so many pterosaur taxa from their cladogram that it does not recover the four origins of pterodactyloid-grade pterosaurs known for the last 12 years (Peters 2007) and documented online in the large pterosaur tree (LPT, 239 taxa). Instead the authors follow the traditional, invalidated hypothesis that includes a monophyletic and awkward ‘Pterodactyloidea.’ that is only recovered by taxon exclusion.

Remember, 
dsungaripterids, tapejarids and pteranodontids all arise from various germanodactylids, which arise from pterodactylids, which arise from a branch of tiny scaphognathids. Ornithocheirds + cycnorhamphids arise from other tiny scaphognathids. Ctenochasmatids arise from one branch of dorygnathids. Azhdarchids arise from yet another branch of dorygnathids. All had tiny transitional pterosaur ancestors. Sadly, this is completely lost on the Kellner team, who have chosen to omit pertinent taxa from their analyses.

Otherwise
their topology is similar enough to the LPT. I have not yet entered Keresdrakon into the LRT. If the nesting differs from that of Kellner et al. (above), I will post that.


References
Kellner AWA, Weinschuütz LC, Holgado B, Bantim RAM and Sayão JM  2019. A new toothless pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea) from Southern Brazil with insights into the paleoecology of a Cretaceous desert. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (2019) 91(Suppl. 2): e20190768 (Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences).
Peters D 2007. The origin and radiation of the Pterosauria. In D. Hone ed. Flugsaurier. The Wellnhofer pterosaur meeting, 2007, Munich, Germany. p. 27.


Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2019/08/21/new-pterosaur-keresdrakon-old-cladogram/


Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!


Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST


Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser!  Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover -  Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Report abuse

    Comments

    Your Comments
    Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

    MOST RECENT
    Load more ...

    SignUp

    Login

    Newsletter

    Email this story
    Email this story

    If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

    If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.