Vectidraco daisymorrisae  — вид птерозавров из надсемейства Azhdarchoidea. Обнаружен в породах мелового периода (Atherfield Clay Formation, аптский ярус) на острове Уайт (Южная Англия, Великобритания). Возраст находки — 115 млн лет.

 Предположительный размер ископаемой рептилии был около 35 см, а размах её крыльев достигал 75 см (размер взрослой особи мог быть больше). Вероятно, Vectidraco — самый мелкий представитель всех Azhdarchoidea, так как другие известные самые мелкие аздархоиды (китайские Sinopterus и Huaxiapterus из семейства Tapejaridae) имеют размах крыльев 114 и 143 см соответственно. По мнению авторов описания, Vectidraco по своей общей морфологии и пропорциям тела был сходен с родом Tapejara и другими мелкими птерозаврами надсемейства Azhdarchoidea, был беззубым, возможно, с гребнем на голове, имел сравнительно короткие крылья и был способен к четвероногой локомоции.

 Вид был назван V. daisymorrisae в честь 9-летней девочки Дэйзи Моррис (Daisy Morris), обнаружившей останки рептилии на побережье острова. Она любила ходить по пляжу и собирать кости животных, ракушки, черепа и зубы. По мнению соавтора описания палеонтолога Мартина Симпсона из Университета Саутгемптона, куда в 2009 году обратились родители девочки, если бы юная исследовательница не нашла окаменелости, то они могли быть уничтожены и смыты морским прибоем. Название рода Vectidraco происходит от греческого имени острова Уайт (Vectis) и слова дракон («дракон с острова Уайт»).

 A scientific paper was published in 2013 about the find in the electronic journal PLoS ONE, titled A New Small-Bodied Azhdarchoid Pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of England and Its Implications for Pterosaur Anatomy, Diversity and Phylogeny. In it Darren Naish, Martin Simpson, and Gareth Dyke described and named the type species Vectidraco daisymorrisae. The generic name is derived from the Latin Vectis, the Roman name of the island now known as the Isle of Wight, and dracō, meaning "dragon". The specific name honours the discoverer Daisy Morris. A children's book has also been written by Simpson about Daisy Morris's discovery, called Daisy and the Isle of Wight Dragon.

 The only known specimen, holotype NHMUK PV R36621, was uncovered in the Chale Clay Member of the Atherfield Clay Formation of the Lower Greensand Group, a clay layer of the Deshayesites forbesi zone, Deshayesites fittoni subzone, dating from the early Aptian, with an age of 124 million years. It consists of the left side of a pelvis, the right ischium, the rear dorsal vertebra and the first three sacral vertebrae, of a subadult or adult individual.

 Vectidraco is a relatively small pterosaur. The pelvis is four centimetres long as preserved. Vectidraco's wingspan was estimated at seventy-five centimetres, its total body length at thirty-five centimetres. In view of its affinities, the describing authors assumed it was a toothless form, featuring a crest on its snout.

 Several unique derived traits, autapomorphies, were established. The hip joint is bordered at its top rear corner by a triangular depression. This depression is overhung by a ridge running downwards to the rear. The front blade of the ilium features an undivided roughly oval depression at its front inner side, below a convex surface. Furthermore a unique combination of traits is present in that the elongated rear blade of the ilium is T-shaped, terminating in a wide expansion also projecting upwards, that is longer than the shaft of the rear blade itself.

 Damage to the ilium shows the presence of camellate bone, internal air chambers. Also all the preserved vertebrae are pneumatised.

 Vectidraco was assigned to the Azhdarchoidea, in a basal position. If correct, this would make it one of the smallest azhdarchoids known

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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры

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 Eurazhdarcho is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous Transylvanian Basin of Romania.

 In 2009, Mátyás Vremir at Lancrăm near Sebeş-Glod in Transylvania at the SbG-B site uncovered the remains of a pterosaur. He donated these to the Erdélyi Múzeum, of the Societății Muzeului Ardelean (Transylvanian Museum Society). Subsequent excavations by Vremir discovered additional bones of the same individual animal and were added by him to the collection of the Babeș-Bolyai University.

 In 2013, Vremir, Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner, Darren Naish, and Gareth Dyke named and described the type species Eurazhdarcho langendorfensis. The generic name combines the name of Europe with that of the related form Azhdarcho. The specific name refers to Langendorf, the name of Lancrǎm in the language of the German ethnic minority in Romania. The article appeared in the electronic journal PLoS ONE without an accompanying printed version; it nevertheless validly names the taxon under the new rules of the ICZN.

 The holotype, EME VP 312, was found in a layer of the Sebeş Formation dating from the upper Early Maastrichtian, about 69 million years old. It consists of a partial skeleton lacking the skull. It includes three neck vertebrae among which the almost complete third and the fourth; the third and fourth right metacarpal; the upper part of the first phalanx of the wing finger; the lower part of the second phalanx; a lower phalanx of one of the other fingers and a number of undetermined fragments. The Babeș-Bolyai University material is included within this enumeration and is not indicated by a separate inventory number. Generally the quality of the bones is poor with much of the outer cortex broken or eroded and internal structures present as (impressions of) natural moulds. The fossils have not been completely flattened, preserving three-dimensionality, but compression has caused some distortion. The carcass had probably by flooding been deposed on its back in mud near a riverbank. Afterwards it was exposed to the air, weathering and being scavenged as proven by circular bite-marks inflicted by the conical teeth of some member of the Crocodyliformes. Later covered by a thin layer of dirt, it was damaged by beetles and termites.

 The authors noted that from the same Romanian layers the related giant form Hatzegopteryx is known; the known fossil material from both genera does not overlap. The authors considered an identity to be unlikely because the much smaller EME VP 312 seems to represent an adult individual.

 Eurazhdarcho is a medium-sized azhdarchid. The authors estimated its wingspan at three metres, extrapolating from an estimated length for the fourth metacarpal of about twenty-five centimetres.

 The authors established some distinctive traits, all present in the cervical vertebrae. The third neck vertebra has three-quarters of the length of the fourth vertebra, whereas 60% would be normal with azhdarchids. The necks of the prezygapophyses, the front joint processes, are well-developed and elongated, obliquely pointing forwards and outwards under an angle of 30° with the long axis of the vertebra. The preexapophysis, a secondary joint process on the side of the prezygapophysis, is well-developed with a forward pointing articulation facet and separated from a process, itself the remains of the diapophysis and possibly a neck rib, on the outer base of the prezygapophysis, by a deep trough on its underside. The pneumatic openings, the entrance holes for the air sacks, at the sides of the neural arch are small and placed in a low position.

 Eurazhdarcho was by the authors assigned to the Azhdarchidae, based on the method of comparative anatomy; a cladistic analysis was not performed.

 The area where Eurazhdarcho was found, in the Upper Cretaceous was localised on the Hațeg Island, part of the European Archipelago. The SbG-B site, though encompassing a surface of just 200 m³, has yielded several distinct animal species among which the turtle Kallokibotion bajazidi, the hadrosaur Telmatosaurus and a form referred to the titanosaur Magyarosaurus. This terrestrial fauna suggests that Eurazdarcho was not a coastal piscivore catching fish on the wing, affirming the "superstork" model for azhdarchids, in which they are terrestrial stalkers snatching small prey animals while walking on all fours.

 If Eurazhdarcho was indeed distinct from Hatzegopteryx, its discovery implies the presence of two azhdarchid forms in the Hațeg fauna, the one gigantic, the other medium-sized. This suggests a niche partitioning between them, although it is as yet unclear how this correlates with differences in prey preference and hunting techniques. This reflects a pattern seen in other Late Crataceous faunae which also show a combination of a large azhdarchid species with a smaller one. The Javalina Formation from the Maastrichtian of Texas has brought forth the giant Quetzalcoatlus northropi but also a smaller Quetzalcoatlus sp. and the azhdarchoid represented by specimen TMM 42489-2. The Two Medicine Formation fauna from the Campanian of Montana includes the smaller Montanazhdarcho minor, with a wingspan of 2.5 metres, but also fragments of larger forms with a span of eight metres. In the coeval Dinosaur Park Formation of Canada the smaller specimen RTMP 92.83 was discovered with a wingspan of five to six metres but also the large specimen PMA P.80.16.1367 indicating a ten metre wide animal.

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 Banguela oberlii is a dsungaripterid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil.

 The Swiss collector Urs Oberli acquired a pterosaur jaw fragment from the Chapada do Araripe. In 2005, this was described by André Jacques Veldmeijer e.a. and referred to Thalassodromeus sethi. In 2006, Veldmeijer named it as a new Thalassodromeus species: Thalassodromeus oberli. However, this was done in his dissertation and thus merely resulted in an invalid nomen ex dissertatione.

 In 2014 it was named and described by Jaime Headden and Hebert Bruno Nascimento Campos as a separate genus Banguela, with the type species Banguela oberlii. The genus name is a Brazilian Portuguese word for "toothless one", especially used as an affectionate term for elderly women. The specific name honours Oberli.

 The holotype, NMSG SAO 251093, was probably found in the Romualdo Formation, also known as the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation, dating from the Aptian-Albian. It consists of the symphysis, fused front end, of the lower jaws.

 Banguela has an estimated skull length of about two feet and wingspan of over twelve feet. The symphysis, with a preserved length of 273 millimetres, curves upwards and has a relatively short depression at its upper rear end. The front upper edge of the symphysis is sharp. The front bottom edge is sharp too but lacks a true crest. There are no teeth or tooth sockets present in the fragment.

 Veldmeijer had already in 2005 noted similarities to Dsungaripterus, but considered the available data to be insufficient to draw any conclusions from this. In 2014, Headden & Campos placed Banguela in the Dsungaripteridae, in a basal position. Banguela is unique among dsungaripterid pterosaurs due to a presumed total absence of teeth. Other pterosaur groups, such as pteranodontids, nyctosaurids and azhdarchoids, have also lost their teeth, indicating that toothloss might have independently occurred at least four times among pterosaurs. However, because dsungaripterids are occasionally recovered as derived azhdarchoids, it is possible that toothloss has occurred more often, if as an instance of Dollo's Law azhdarchoids should be originally toothless. If there was a large number of cases, Banguela suggests how it developed in most of these: the development of horned rhamphothecae in the jawtips, with progressive tooth rarification until they cease to be useful.

 It is worth to note that dsungaripteroids have some of the most specialised teeth of all sauropsids, so Banguela's toothlessness must indicate some degree of divergent specialisation.

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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, джунгариптероиды, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры

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 Europejara is a genus of tapejarid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Spain.

 In 2012, the type species Europejara olcadesorum was named and described by Romain Vullo, Jesús Marugán-Lobón, Alexander Kellner, Angela Buscalioni, Bernard Gomez, Montserrat de la Fuente and José Moratalla. The generic name combines the names of Europe and the related genus Tapejara, in reference to the fact that Europejara is the first tapejarid found in that continent. The specific name refers to the Olcades, the Celtiberic tribe inhabiting the region of Cuenca, the location of the find, in Antiquity.

 The holotype, MCCM-LH 9413, was uncovered at the Las Hoyas site in a chalkstone layer of the Calizas de La Huergina Formation dating from the late Barremian. It consists of a partial skull with lower jaws, compressed on a slab and counterslab. Two elements of the hyoid are present also. The skull has been vertically crushed, the lower jaws horizontally. The specimen was prepared by Mercedes Llandres Serrano, and is part of the Las Hoyas collection of the Museo de las Ciencias de Castilla–La Mancha.

 Europejara is a relatively small form with an estimated wingspan of two metres. The jaws are toothless and the lower jaws bear a large downwards pointing crest.

 The describers established three autapomorphies, unique derived traits. The crest on the lower jaws is curved to the back. The crest is deeper than its base, measured from the front to the back, is wide. The crest is four times deeper than the back of the jaw. Two other diagnostic traits were indicated: the inner side of the lower jaw is thickened, causing a convex curvature; the inner side shows some shallow, but well-demarcated, depressions.

 Due to the crushing of the skull, its fragments, mainly representing elements from the area around the right eye socket, show little detail. The lower jaws have a preserved length of twenty-three centimetres and an estimated original length of 255 millimetres. In their front parts the lower jaws are fused by a symphysis into a mandibula. The symphysis has a concave upper profile and features a large crest on the underside, pointing downwards for at least nine centimetres. The back edge of the crest is recurved; the curvature of the front edge cannot be exactly established because of damage. The crest is the longest relative to lower jaw length of any known pterosaur. The internal bone structure of the crest is spongy. The rod-like first ceratobranchialia pair of the hyoid have a length of 135 millimetres and a cross-section of two millimetres.

 Europejara was assigned to the Tapejaridae. A cladistic analysis showed it to be more precisely a member of the Tapejarinae. Apart from being the first tapejarid known from Europe, it would also be the oldest pterosaur with certainty known to be edentulous; older fragments have been reported representing other generally toothless clades but these did not include the jaws themselves.

 Following earlier suggestions about the diet of tapejarids, the describers assumed a frugivorous lifestyle for Europejara. Because the species is so old it indicates a rôle for the tapejarids in the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, a turn-over in the ecosystems of the Lower Cretaceous in which gymnosperms were replaced by angiosperms, flowering plants, and new groups of herbivores evolved, adapted to the changed food supply. In the case of tapejarids there could have been a reinforcing interactive cycle between the evolution of fruit and the pterosaurs dispersing the seed. Possibly the beaks of the tapejarids had ragged edges forming pseudo-teeth to better separate the fruit flesh from the seeds, as with some extant toucans.

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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры, тапежариды

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 Caiuajara is an extinct genus of tapejarid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. It is known from a single type species, Caiuajara dobruskii.

 In 1971, the labourers Alexandre Dobruski and his son João Gustavo Dobruski found pterosaur fossils in a field near Cruzeiro do Oeste in the south of Brazil, in the state of Paraná. The finds were in 2011 brought to the attention of paleontologists Paulo C. Manzig and Luiz C. Weinschütz.

 In 2014, the type species Caiuajara dobruskii was named and described by Paulo Manzig, Alexander Kellner, Luiz Weinschütz, Carlos Fragoso, Cristina Vega, Gilson Guimarães, Luiz Godoy, Antonio Liccardo, João Ricetti and Camila de Moura. The generic name refers to the geological Caiuá Group and the related genus Tapejara. The specific name honours the discoverers.

 The holotype, CP.V 1449, was found in a sandstone layer of the Goio-Erê Formation, the age of which is uncertain; it is perhaps dating from the Coniacian-Campanian, very roughly about eighty-five million years old. It consists of a partial skeleton including the skull, lower jaws, neck vertebrae and wing elements. Many hundreds of bones have been discovered, concentrated in several bone beds, and representing at least forty-seven individuals but probably many more. In the total assembly, all elements of the skeleton are present. The bones have been three-dimensionally preserved, not compressed, but are only rarely articulated. The individuals found are often juveniles; adult animals are much rarer, only represented by two skulls and three humeri. Good specimens have been assigned as paratypes, the more fragmentary ones have been referred.

 The paratypes are: CP.V 865: a snout, rear of the mandibula, right jugal, vertebrae, ribs and metatarsals; CP.V 867: a snout and limb bones; CP.V 868: a snout, wing elements and other postcrania; CP.V 869: a vertebral column, right arm, coracoid, breastbone, wing phalanges, belly ribs, pelvic elements and a right tighbone; CP.V 870: a shoulder girdle with the humeri; CP.V 871: a right shoulder girdle with right arm elements; CP.V 872: s partial skeleton including the skull, lower jaws, right arm, neck vertebrae and additional limb elements; CP.V 873: a snout and finger phalanges; CP.V 999: a partial skull; CP.V 1001: a slab with a partial skull, lower jaws and postcrania of at least three individuals; CP.V 1003: a partial skull and symphysis; CP.V 1004: a snout; CP.V 1005: a partial crested skull with the complete mandibula; CP.V 1006: a partial crested skull lacking the snout combined with postcrania; CP.V 1023: a snout and postcrania; CP.V 1024: a skull and postcrania of at least three juveniles; CP.V 1025: a thighbone; CP.V 1026: a thighbone; CP.V 1450: a slab containing at least fourteen juveniles; CP.V 2003: a skull with lower jaws and articulated wing elements; UEPG/DEGEO/MP-4151: a slab with two skulls and postcrania; and UEPG/DEGEO/MP-4152: a snout with postcrania.

 Most specimens are part of the collection of the Centro Paleontológico of the Universidade do Contestado.

 The largest individuals of Caiuajara had an estimated wingspan of 2.35 metres. The species had a large toothless head with, in adult individuals, an enormous shark fin-shaped crest on the snout.

 The describing authors established several distinguishing unique traits, autapomorphies. The tip of the snout is strongly oriented to below, at 142 to 149°, relative to the edge of the upper jaw. The rear ascending branches of the praemaxillae on their midline form an elongated bony rim projecting to below into the nasoantorbital fenestra, the large skull opening in the side of the snout. In the concave upper rear of the symphysis, the fronts of the lower jaws grown together, a rounded depression is present. The front outer edge of the quadrate shows a longitudinal groove. Below the front part of the nasoantorbital fenestra, a depression is present in the upper jaw edge.

 Additionally, Caiuajara shows an unique combination of traits that are themselves not unique. The lower edge of the eye socket is rounded. At a maximal occlusion, the gap between the upper and lower jaw is wider than with other tapejarines. The pteroid on its bottom surface shows a conspicuous depression lacking a pneumatic opening.

 Caiuajara was assigned to the Tapejaridae, more precisely the Tapejarinae. It shares several traits with the tapejarids, such as a crest running from the front snout to the back of the head; an elongated nasoantorbital fenestra occupying over 40% of total skull length; and a large boss on the front edge of the coracoid. A typical tapejarine trait is the down-turned snout tip. A cladistic analysis showed that Caiuajara is a possible sister species of Tupandactylus. In 2014, Caiuajara was the geologically youngest known tapejarid (aside from the possible tapejarid Bakonydraco galaczi) and also the most southern one known. This expansion of their known range was seen as an indication that tapejarids had a global distribution. Moreover, Caiuajara is the first pterosaur found in the south of Brazil.

 The habitat of Caiuajara was a desert with dunes. The layers in which the fossils were found had been deposited in a lake in the desert; probably the bones had been exposed at the surface around the lake for a time and were then by storms blown into it, eventually sinking to the bottom. Possibly the same storms caused many individuals to die together; this could also have been the result of droughts. A succession of layers shows that the lake was likely inhabited by the pterosaurs for a great length of time, although it is also possible they visited the lake during regular migrations. Fossil plants — tapejarids are often assumed to have been herbivores — have not been found, so there are no direct indications about the food source. Likewise, remains of invertebrates have not been discovered.

 The large concentrations of fossils, among pterosaurs very rare and only equalled by those found of the Argentine form Pterodaustro, were by the describers seen as proof of a gregarious lifestyle, Caiuajara living in colonies. The many specimens also allowed to determine a growth series, the first such an ontogenetic sequence for pterosaurs of which it is nearly certain that it really represented a single species. The age of the exemplars can be determined, not just from size but also by the degree of ossification, especially of the breastbone, the long bones and the wrist, and the fusion of the shoulder blade and coracoid into a scapulocoracoid. It showed that juvenile individuals, the smallest specimens of which have a wingspan of about sixty-five centimetres, generally had the same proportions as adults. Especially important is that their humeri are not proportionally smaller and their humeral deltopectoral crests, the attachments of the main flight muscles, are not less developed, attaining a size of 38 to 40% of the humeral shaft length. This suggests that they were precocial, taking wing almost as soon as they hatched; parental care must have been limited. This might have been typical of all derived pterosaurs. The snout crest however, strongly changed during growth. It became much taller and also much more steeply inclined, from about 115° to 90°. Although the snout as a whole also became more massive, the snout tip inclination relative to the jaw edge remained the same. At the back of the skull an additional projection developed. Furthermore the dentary crest on the lower jaw strongly increased in size. No specimens have been found lacking the snout crest, indicating that Caiuajara was in this respect not sexually dimorphic and casting doubt on the hypothesis that pterosaurs normally were.

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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры, тапежариды

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 Volgadraco ("Volga River dragon") is a genus of azhdarchid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of European Russia. It is known from lower beak (holotype SGU, no. 46/104a) and postcranial fragments from the early Campanian-age Rybushka Formation of Saratov, Russia. The size of this animal, and the development of blood supply in the lower jaw, are intermediate between older Santonian or Turonian azhdarchids like Azhdarcho and Bakonydraco and later Maastrichtian azhdarchids like Quetzalcoatlus. Volgadraco was described in 2008 by Averianov, Arkhangelsky, and Pervushov. The type species is V. bogolubovi, the specific name honouring Russian paleontologist Nikolai Nikolaevich Bogolubov. The authors consider the earlier named genus Bogolubovia to be a nomen dubium that in fact might be identical to Volgadraco.

 Ученые из Саратовского государственного технического университета во время полевых работ в верхнемеловых отложениях южной части саратовского правобережья обнаружили кости летающих ящеров-птерозавров. 

"По мнению ведущего российского специалиста по птерозаврам профессора Александра Аверьянова (Зоологический институт РАН, Санкт-Петербург), кости относятся к представителям семейства аждархид. Это самые крупные летающие создания на нашей планете, обитавшие в конце мелового периода. 

 Как выяснилось, ранее останки Volgadraco bogolubovi «Волжский дракон Боголюбова» уже находили. Они являлись самыми крупными летающими созданиями на нашей планете, обитавшими в конце мелового периода. Их размах крыльев был более 10 метров и пропитание они добывали, пикируя на поверхностью водоемов, высматривая рыбу плавающую на небольшой глубине.

 Новые находки были сделаны доцентом кафедры "Геоэкология и инженерная геология" Саратовского технического университета Максимом Архангельским и участником исследовательской группы "Искатели" Сергеем Меркуловым. 

 "Вместе с останками птерозавров обнаружены и кости морских рептилий - плезиозавров, мозазавров и черепах. В ближайшее время экспедиционные работы по сбору ископаемых останков мезозойских рептилий будут продолжены", - цитирует сообщение РИА "Новости".

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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархиды, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры

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 Zhejiangopterus is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur known from one species, which lived in China during the late Cretaceous Period.

 The genus was named in 1994 by Chinese paleontologists Cai Zhengquan and Wei Feng. The type species is Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis. The genus name refers to Zhejiang Province and a Latinised Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name refers to the city of Linhai.

 In 1986 a young chalkstone quarry worker named Xu Chengfa, found a large fossil near the village of Aolicun. Xu by letter informed the director of the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History at Hangzhou, Ming Hua, who from it understood the remains were those of an unknown pterosaur. Therefore he sent a team consisting of the describers and Wu Weitang to investigate. They secured the fossil, instructing the local population to be alert for possible further finds. Xu himself managed to find three more specimens before being killed in an accident in 1988; another worker found a complete skull.

 In the early nineties in total six larger fossils had been recovered from the Tangshang Formation, an 81.5 million year old layer from the Campanian. Among those was the holotype, ZMNH M1330, the impression of the skull of a juvenile individual. Several paratypes were referred: ZMNH M1325, a skeleton lacking the skull; ZMNH M1328, an almost complete skeleton and ZMNH M1329, a fragmentary skeleton.

 Zhejiangopterus was a moderately large pterosaur. Its wingspan was first estimated at 5 metres (16.4 feet). Later estimates reduced this to about 3.5 metres (11.5 ft). Its skull was long, low, perfectly arched, and lacked a "keel" or any other crest sometimes seen in related species. The nasal opening and the large opening typically present between the nose and eye openings of archosaurs (the "antorbital fenestra") had joined together in species such as this to create a single oval opening that occupied nearly one half the length of the skull. The beak was long, thin, sharply pointed, and lacked teeth. The cervical vertebrae were elongated. The first six dorsal vertebrae had fused into a notarium. Several pairs of belly ribs were preserved. Its upper leg bone was half the size of its upper arm bone, and strong and thin. The wings were short but robust.

 Zhejiangopterus was by the original describers classified as a member of the Nyctosauridae, because of the two edentulous pterosaurs they possessed good descriptions of, Pteranodon and Nyctosaurus, it showed the most resemblance to the latter. They deplored lacking good data on Quetzalcoatlus. Indeed in 1997 David Unwin determined that Zhejiangopterus was more closely related to this giant American form and thus belonged to the Azhdarchidae. No other azhdarchid is known from such complete skeletal material.

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 Tupuxuara is a genus of large, crested, toothless pterodactyloid pterosaur.

 The genus was named and described by Alexander Kellner and Diógenes de Almeida Campos in 1988. The type species is Tupuxuara longicristatus. The genus name refers to a familiar spirit from the mythology of the Tupi. The specific name means "long-crested" in Latin.

 The holotype, MN 6591-V, was found in the Cretaceous Santana Formation of Brazil. It consists of a snout and some partial wing bones. Mature individuals of T. longicristatus had a back-swept crest arising from the snout. Much more fossil material has later been found, showing considerable variation in morphology. Some researchers explain this as intra-specific variability, being caused by a difference in age or sex. Others, however, assume there are different species present.

 In 1994 a second species was named by Kellner: Tupuxuara leonardii. The specific name honours Giuseppe Leonardi. The holotype is MN 6592-V, a fragmentary skull with a more rounded crest. Other such material has been referred to T. leonardii. The largest skulls have a length of 130 centimetres indicating a wingspan of 5.5 metres (18 ft).

 In 2009 a third species was named, by Mark Paul Witton: Tupuxuara deliridamus. The holotype is SMNK PAL 6410, a skull. Another skull is the paratype: KPMNH DL 84. The specific name is derived from Latin delirus, "insane" or "crazy", and adamas, "invincible" but also the word from which "diamond" is derived. The species has a distinctive diamond-shaped skull opening and low eye sockets. The name is a tribute to the song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd, one of Witton's favourite bands.

 Tupuxuara is a member of the group Azhdarchoidea. Kellner assigned it to the Tapejaridae within Azhdarchoidea. According to some analyses however, Tupuxuara is closer to the Azhdarchidae (the group that includes the giant Texan form Quetzalcoatlus) than to Tapejara and its relatives.

 It has been suggested that Tupuxuara was a fish eater at the coasts of South America. Other hypotheses include the possibility it was a fruit eater.

 A subadult described by David Martill and Darren Naish from the University of Portsmouth in 2006 had not yet fully developed its crest, which supports the suggestion that the crest was a marker for sexual maturity.

 Comparisons between the scleral rings of Tupuxuara and modern birds and reptiles suggest that it may have been diurnal.

 Для чего доисторическим летающим рептилиям были нужны гребни на головах, выяснили британские ученые - команда палеонтологов во главе с доктором Дэрреном Нэйшем из университета Портсмута.

 Редкий экземпляр черепа, найденный в Бразилии, "рассказал" исследователям, что гребень использовался птерозаврами для привлечения внимания противоположного пола - существа щеголяли своим "головным убором", демонстрируя половую зрелость. Современные павлины с той же целью используют хвост.

 "Эта поразительная структура яркого цвета походила на гребень гигантского петуха. Мы не знаем этого наверняка, но полагаем, что гребень применялся для привлечения других птерозавров", - сообщил Нэйш.

 Свою теорию ученые основывают на исследовании черепа представителя вида, известного как тупуксуара (Tupuxuara). Как оказалось, этот череп принадлежал птерозавру-подростку.

 Вместо единого большого треугольного гребня от морды до затылка у "юнца" гребень состоял из двух частей, растущих навстречу друг другу. Палеонтологи считают, что когда эти части соединялись, птерозавр достигал половой зрелости. И это становилось заметным для потенциальных партнеров.

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 Tupandactylus (meaning "Tupan finger", in reference to the Tupi thunder god) is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil. It is notable for its large cranial crest, composed partly of bone and partly of soft tissue. The Tupandactylus genus possibly contains two species, both bearing differently sized/shaped crests that may have been used to signal and display for other Tupandactylus, much as toucans use their bright bills to signal to one another. Tupandactylus crests consisted of a semicircular crest over the snout, and in the case of the type species T. imperator, a bony prong which extended back behind the head. A second species, T. navigans, lacked this prong, and had a much more vertical crest. Soft tissue impressions also show that the small bony crests were extended by a much larger structure made of a keratinous material. The complete crest of T. navigans rose in a sharp, sail-like "dome" high above the rest of the skull.

 Tupandactylus imperator is known from four nearly complete skulls. The holotype specimen is MCT 1622-R, a skull and partial lower jaw, found in the Crato Formation, dating to the boundary of the Aptian-Albian stages of the early Cretaceous period, about 112 Ma ago. It was initially described as a species of Tapejara, but later research has indicated it warrants its own genus. The skull was toothless and had a prominent sagittal crest, only the base of which was bony: the front of the crest featured a tall bony rod extending up and back, and the rear of the crest had a long prong of bone projecting behind it. The bulk of the crest was made up of soft tissue similar to keratin, supported by the two bony struts. An additional skull described in 2011, specimen CPCA 3590, preserved more of the lower jaw, showing that like Tapejara, T. imperator had a large, asymmetrical "keel"-like crest on the underside of the lower jaw tip.

 Some Tupandactylus specimens preserve evidence of a keratinous beak at the jaw tips. However, this was restricted to the crested portion of the lower jaw, as one specimen also preserves pycnofibres (simple feather-like filaments) covering the jaws further back.

 Beginning in 2006, several researchers, including Kellner and Campos (who named Tupandactylus), had found that the three species traditionally assigned to the genus Tapejara (T. wellnhofferi, T. imperator, and T. navigans) are in fact distinct both in anatomy and in their relationships to other tapejarid pterosaurs, and thus needed to be given new generic names. However, just how the species should be split proved controversial. Kellner and Campos considered only T. imperator to warrant a new name, creating Tupandactylus. However, another study published in 2007 by Unwin and Martill found that T. navigans, previously assigned to Tapejara, was actually most closely related to T. imperator and belonged with it in a new genus separate from Tapejara. In 2007, at a symposium held in honor of renowned pterosaur researcher Peter Wellnhofer, Unwin and Martill announced the new genus name Ingridia, in honor of Wellnhofer's late wife Ingrid. However, when they published this name in a 2007 volume, they assigned imperator as the type species of their new genus, rather than navigans, which they also included as a species of Ingridia. Furthermore, Unwin and Martill's paper was not published until several months after the similar paper by Kellner and Campos. Therefore, because both sets of authors used imperator as the type, Ingridia is considered a junior objective synonym of Tupandactylus. It was not until 2011 that T. navigans was formally reclassified in the genus Tupandactylus, in a subsequent study supporting the conclusions of Unwin and Martill in 2007.

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 Талассодромеус (Thalassodromeus sethi, от др.-греч. θαλασσο- +δρομεύς «морской бегун», sethi — от имени Сета, из-за формы гребня) — птеродактиль из раннего мела Бразилии (формация Сантана, возраст около 122 − 109 млн.л.н.). Описан А. Келльнером и Д. Кампосом в 2002 году. Длина черепа до 1420 мм, череп высокий, имеется огромный затылочный гребень. Гребень очень тонкий, со следами кровеносных сосудов. Возможно, он служил для терморегуляции и для брачной демонстрации. На нижней челюсти в подбородочной области имеется небольшой вырост, который мог служить своеобразным килем-рассекателем, когда птерозавр опускал нижнюю челюсть в воду во время охоты. Способ питания талассодромеуса мог быть сходен со способом питания чаек-водорезов. Ящер летел низко над водой и опущенной нижней челюстью «резал» воду, выхватывая мелкую живность. В отличие от водорезов, талассодромеус мог достигать 4,5 метров в размахе крыльев. Это самое крупное известное животное, питавшееся по типу водореза. Тем не менее, недавние опыты на натурных моделях показали, что подобный способ питания для столь крупного животного был бы невозможен — челюсть создавала бы такое сопротивление, что ящер не мог бы удержать себя в воздухе. Родственные связи талассодромеуса не вполне ясны, он может быть родственником птеродактилей-тупуксар. В свою очередь, тупуксары близки к аждархидам.

 Thalassodromeus was a large pterodactyloid pterosaur found in northeastern Brazil.

 The genus was named in 2002 by Alexander Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. The type species is Thalassodromeus sethi. The genus name is derived from Greek thalasse, "sea" and dromaios, "runner", in reference to its presumed life style as a skimmer. The specific name refers to the Egyptian god Seth because of the similarity in head form. In 2006 André Jacques Veldmeijer suggested Kellner had confused Seth with the god Amun whose crown shows a remarkable resemblance with the Thalassodromeus head crest.

 The genus is based on holotype DGM 1476-R, a damaged partial skull, found in the Santana Formation. Thalassodromeus lived in the Early Cretaceous, roughly 108 million years ago. It shared the skies with its smaller cousin Tapejara. It is particularly notable for its immense head crest, beginning at the tip of the snout and ending far behind the braincase, which accounts for seventy-five percent of the surface of its 1.42 metre (4.6 ft) long skull. The jaws were pointed and toothless. It had a wing span of roughly 4.5 metres (14.7 ft). The function of the crest is unknown, but it may have been used for sexual display, species recognition, or thermoregulation. A lower jaw fragment referred to Thalassodromeus, DGM 1476-M, indicates a larger example with a wingspan of 5.3 metres (17.4 ft).

 Another jaw fragment, SAO 251093, was unofficially suggested to be a new species, "Thalassodromeus oberli" (referring to the Urs Oberli collection), by Veldmeijer in 2006, after having referred the specimen to T. sethi in 2005. In 2014 this was made a separate genus Banguela.

 Thalassodromeus was believed by Kellner to have fed in a similar way to modern skimmers; trailing its lower jaw in the water while it flew. However, later research on its jaw and neck anatomy suggested that for this and other larger pterosaurs it would not be feasible to skim because of the drag: the energy expenditure would be too high. Rather, Thalassodromeus appears to have had specialisation for terrestrial foraging like Azhdarchidae, even converging on leg proportions, and it's powerful jaws might suggest raptorial tendencies akin to those of phorusrhacids.

 Kellner assigned Thalassodromeus to the Tapejaridae. Other analyses however, showed that it was, joined with Tupuxuara in a Thalassodrominae, more closely related to the Azhdarchidae.

 Thalassodromidae (meaning "sea runners") is a family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the early Cretaceous period of Brazil. It contains two genera, Thalassodromeus and Tupuxuara.

 The classification of thalassodromids is controversial. Some studies, including one by Lü and colleagues in 2008, have found that the thalassodromids are more closely related to the azhdarchids than to the tapejarids, and have placed them in their own family (which has sometimes been referred to as Tupuxuaridae, though Thalassodrominae was named first). Alternately, they have been considered a subfamily (Thalassodrominae) within the Tapejaridae.

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 Тапежара, или тапейяра (Tapejara — от тупийского «древнее существо») — род птерозавров, обитавших в раннем меловом периоде, 121—112 млн лет назад. Отличался причудливым гребнем на голове. Размах крыльев — до 5 м. Хищник. Ископаемые находки были найдены в Южной Америке (Бразилия).

 Тапежара — древнейший из известных ученым птерозавр с беззубым клювом. Его ископаемые останки были обнаружены в бразильских горах Сантана, содержащих окаменелости и многих других причудливых видов птерозавров. Родственные связи тапежары с многочисленными видами беззубых птерозавров позднего мелового периода изучены недостаточно.

 Крупный птерозавр тапежара охотился на рыбу у побережья Южной Америки в меловой период. Своей известностью тапежара обязана огромному, высотой до 1 м, гребню на голове. Гребень, которым обладали только самцы, доставлял животным большие неудобства: он делал их голову очень тяжёлой, а полёт медленным и неровным. Очевидно, ярко окрашенный гребень использовался самцами тапежары во время зрелищных брачных демонстраций и служил для привлечения самок. Также существует предположение Санкара Чхаттердже, что гребень при плавании в воде использовался в качестве своеобразного паруса.

 Тапежары гнездились крупными колониями недалеко от моря, где родители добывали корм для своих детёнышей.

 Tapejara (from a Tupi word meaning "the old being") is a genus of Brazilian pterosaur from the Cretaceous Period (Santana Formation, dating to about 108 Ma ago). Tapejara crests consisted of a semicircular crest over the snout, and a bony prong which extended back behind the head.

 The type species and only one currently recognized as valid by most researchers, T. wellnhoferi, is the smallest species to have been assigned to Tapejara and does not preserve evidence of soft-tissue crest extensions. The specific name honours German paleontologist Peter Wellnhofer. A second species, originally named Tapejara imperator ("emperor"), is much larger and possessed a crest made up of distinctively long prongs, projecting from the rounded snout crest and the back of the skull, which supported a large, possibly rounded sail-like crest of keratin. A third species, Tapejara navigans ("sailing"), was mid-sized and sported a similar crest to T. imperator, though narrower and more dome-shaped, that lacked the backwards-pointing bony support prong.

 Several studies in 2007 showed that T. imperator and T. navigans are too different from T. wellnhoferi and therefore require their own genus names. The species T. imperator was given its own genus, Tupandactylus, by Kellner and Campos. Unwin and Martill found that T. imperator and T. navigans belong in the same genus, and named them Ingridia imperator and I. navigans, respectively. The genus name honoured Wellnhofer's late wife Ingrid. Because Tupandactylus was named first, it retains priority over the name Ingridia. To complicate matters, both the name Tupandactylus and Ingridia used the former Tapejara imperator as their type species. The scientists who described Tupandactylus did not name a Tupandactylus navigans (but instead suggested it was synonymous to Tupandactylus imperator), and Tapejara navigans was not formally reclassified as a distinct species of Tupandactylus until 2011.

 Comparisons between the scleral rings of Tapejara and modern birds and reptiles suggest that it may have been cathemeral, active throughout the day at short intervals.

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 Sinopterus (meaning "Chinese wing") is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. Three species have been classified in this genus, though only two are generally considered to be valid. Sinopterus is known for its proportionally large skull, which has a birdlike pointed beak, a long bony crest that starts with a tall premaxilla and goes back along the middle of the skull to form a point overhanging the rear of the skull, and its lack of teeth.

 The type species, S. dongi, is based on IVPP V13363, an articulated, nearly complete skeleton. The skull of this individual was 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) long, and the wingspan was estimated to be 1.2 meters (3.9 feet). The authors suggested that it was an omnivore, and noted that it was the first record of a tapejarid outside of Brazil, and the earliest and most complete tapejarid.

 A second species, S. gui, was named by Li, Lü, and Zhang in 2003 based on BPV-077, another nearly complete skeleton from the Jiufotang Formation. It was said to differ from S. dongi mainly in its smaller size (only about half the size of S. dongi) and the presence of a notarium, though this was later disproved. Most later studies have found S. gui to simply represent a younger specimen of S. dongi.

 A third species was referred to Sinopterus in 2007, S. jii. This species was first named by Lü & Yuan in 2005 as the type species of a new genus, which they named Huaxiapterus. However, two later studies in 2007 and 2011 both showed that H. jii was in fact more closely related to Sinopterus than to two other species also assigned to Huaxiapterus, "H." corollatus and "H." benxiensis. Both groups of researchers concluded that Huaxiapterus jii should therefore be reclassified as Sinopterus jii, and that the other two species of "Huaxiapterus" require a new genus name.

 Тапежариды (Tapejaridae Kellner, 1989, Tupuxuaridae Martill, Bechly & Heads, 2007) — семейство птерозавров раннего мелового периода. Известны находки из Китая и Бразилии. Роды из Китая более примитивны, что указывает на азиатское происхождение семейства.

 Филогения тапежарид остаётся спорной, имеется несколько конкурирующих кладограмм. В частности, нет общепринятой точки зрения на то, принадлежит ли талассодромеус к данному семейству.

 Tapejaridae (meaning "the old beings") are a family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the early Cretaceous period. Members are currently known from Brazil, Morocco, Spain and China, where the most primitive genera are found, indicating that the family has an Asian origin.

 Tapejarids were small to medium-sized pterosaurs with several unique, shared characteristics, mainly relating to the skull. Most tapejarids possessed a bony crest arising from the snout (formed mostly by the premaxillary bones of the upper jaw tip). In some species, this bony crest is known to have supported an even larger crest of softer, fibrous tissue that extends back along the skull. Tapejarids are also characterized by their large nasoantorbital fenestra, the main opening in the skull in front of the eyes, which spans at least half the length of the entire skull in this family. Their eye sockets were small and pear-shaped. Studies of tapejarid brain cases show that they had extremely good vision, more so than in other pterosaur groups, and probably relied nearly exclusively on vision when hunting or interacting with other members of their species. Tapejarids had unusually reduced shoulder girdles that would have been slung low on the torso, resulting in wings that protruded from near the belly rather than near the back, a "bottom decker" arrangement reminiscent of some planes.

 Tapejaridae may be composed of two subfamilies: a Tapejarinae of "Huaxiapterus" corollatus, Sinopterus, Tapejara, Tupandactylus, Europejara, Caiuajara, and possibly Bakonydraco, and a Thalassodrominae of Thalassodromeus and Tupuxuara. Some studies, such as one by Lü and colleagues in 2008, have found that the thalassodromines are more closely related to the azhdarchids proper than to the tapejarids, and have placed them in their own family (which has sometimes been referred to as Tupuxuaridae, though Thalassodrominae was named first). At least one study has also found that the Chaoyangopteridae, often found to be closer to azhdarchids, represent a lineage within the Tapejaridae, more closely related to the tapejarines than to the thalassodromines. Felipe Pinheiro and colleagues (2011) reclassified the group as a subfamily of Tapejaridae, Chaoyangopterinae, for this reason.

 The exact relationships of tapejarids to one another and to other azhdarchoid pterosaurs has historically been unclear, with different studies producing significantly different cladograms (family trees). It is also unclear exactly which pterosaurs belong to the Tapejaridae; some researchers have found the thalassodromines and chaoyangopterines to be members of this family, while other studies have found them to be more closely related to the azhdarchids (in the clade Neoazhdarchia). Some studies have even allowed the possibility that the "tapejarids" as traditionally thought of are paraphyletic, that is, they may not form a natural group but instead represent sequential branches of the tree leading to the more advanced neoazhdarchians.

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 Кетцалькоа́тль (Quetzalcoatlus) — крупнейший известный на сегодня представитель отряда птерозавров (Pterosauria). Типовой вид — Quetzalcoatlus northropi Lawson, 1975. Размах крыльев точно не известен из-за неполной сохранности останков, но по пропорциям птерозавров других видов оценивается приблизительно в 11 метров (по мнению некоторых палеонтологов — до 15 м). Обнаружен в позднемеловых отложениях Северной Америки. Время обитания — поздний меловой период, 68—65,5 миллионов лет назад.

 Весил, по разным оценкам, от 85 до 250 кг. Окаменелости кетцалькоатля обнаружены в Северной Америке. Название дано в честь ацтекского бога. В настоящее время кетцалькоатль вместе с другими гигантскими птерозаврами (Hatzegopteryx) являеся самым крупным известным летающим существом за всю историю жизни на планете. Кетцалькоатль и хатцегоптерикс были примерно одинакового размера, только первый был немного более массивным. Кетцалькоатль летал над сушей и питался падалью и мелкими позвоночными. Возможно, он мог поймать и небольшого динозавра весом до 30 килограммов.

 Изначально размах крыльев оценили в 15,9 метров, усреднив оценку через пропорции других птерозавров. Однако в ходе исследования 1981 года оценочный размер уменьшили до 11—12 метров. Более поздние исследования ещё уменьшили размер Q. до 10—11 метров.

 Оценить массу гигантских аждархидов очень сложно, поскольку нет существующих видов схожего размера или строения, поэтому в разных публикациях результаты разнятся. В то время как некоторые исследования традиционно указывают крайне низкую оценочную массу, как например 70 кг для 10-и метровой особи, большинство оценок, опубликованных с начала 2000-х, указывают на массу в районе 200 кг.

 О жизненном укладе Q. существует несколько предположений. Поскольку кости были найдены в сотнях километров от береговой линии, и не было найдено следов больших рек или глубоких озёр, Дуглас Лоусон в 1975 году отверг рыболовную натуру Q., предположив, что животное питалось падалью подобно африканскому марабу. Лоусон нашел останки гигантского птерозавра во время поисков костей аламозавра, бывшего важной частью экосистемы.

 В 1996 году Томас Леман и Лангстон указали, что строение нижней челюсти отличается от таковой у типичных птиц-падальщиков. Они предположили, что длинная шея и длинные беззубые челюсти позволяли Q. питаться примерно как современные водорезы, ловя рыбу во время полета над водой, прочесывая волны клювом.

 Исследование 2007 года показало, что для такого большого птерозавра подобный полет был бы слишком энергозатратным из-за сильного лобового сопротивления.

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Репродукции (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12):

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 Размеры тела в сравнении с человеком:

 Ископаемые останки и реплики (1, 2, 3):

Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархиды, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры

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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархиды, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры

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 The first, holotype specimen of Noripterus (IVPP V.4062, type locality IVPP 64045) preserved the front part of the skull and lower jaws, vertebrae, and partial limbs and pelvis. Noripterus was quite similar to the contemporaneous Dsungaripterus, though it was estimated to be a third shorter. It has long narrow neck vertebrae and, like Dsungaripterus, a crest and no teeth in the front of the lower jaw. The teeth that are present are well-developed and spaced fairly far apart. The sharp snout is straight and not pointed upwards as with Dsungaripterus.

 

 Because of its similarity to Dsungaripterus, Noripterus has been assigned to the family Dsungaripteridae.

 The genus Phobetor, named after the Greek god of nightmares, was in 1982 originally described by Natasha Bakhurina as a species of Dsungaripterus (D. parvus), based on a single lower leg bone, PIN 3953. The discovery of more remains later, among which an almost complete skull, GIN 100/31, was reason for Bakhurina to name D. parvus in 1986 as a separate genus, and the species name became Phobetor parvus. However, the genus name Phobetor was already being used as a junior synonym of a species of sculpin, namely, the arctic staghorn sculpin, Gymnocanthus tricuspis (synonym "Phobetor tricuspis" Krøyer, 1844) and thus unavailable. In 2009, Lü and colleagues re-examined much of the known dsungaripterid fossil material, and found that "Phobetor" was indistinguishable from Noripterus, causing them to refer to it as a junior synonym.

 Assigning the "Phobetor" material to Noripterus increases the known size of the latter as it indicates a maximum wingspan of 4 metres (13.1 ft).

 Dsungaripterids like Noripterus are interpreted as adapted for feeding on fish and shellfish, with long narrow toothless beak tips for probing for and picking up suitable prey, and robust teeth farther back for cracking shells. The skulls of these animals are more robust than those of other pterosaurs, as well as their limbs and vertebrae.

 Noripterus lived in the same time and place as the larger Dsungaripterus, in formations that indicate the presence of extensive inland lake systems. Because Noripterus had a more lightly built skull with weaker, more slender teeth than its larger contemporary, it is likely that the two pterosaurs occupied separate ecological niches, with Dsungaripterus hunting in the shallow parts of lakes and eating hard-shelled animals, while Noripterus fed on fish from deeper regions of the lakes.

 Новый ископаемый материал птерозавра нориптеруса (Noripterus) из семейства джунгариптерид найден в местечке Tatal в западной Монголии (возраст ранний мел). Его останки позволили по новому диагностировать семейство Dsungaripteridae и нориптеруса. Все птерозавры, найденные в этом месте принадлежат джунгариптеридам (или джунгароптериксу или нориптериксу). Фобетор (Phobetor) представляет младший синоним нориптеруса. Различные формы передних половин черепов, а также зубов, говорят о том, что джунгариптерус и нориптерус могли занимать разные экологические ниши. Джунгариптерус имел размах крыльев около 5 метров, в то время как нориптерус - не больше 4 метров. У первого зубы толстые и мощные, позволявшие питаться не только рыбой, но и относительно крупными животными, а у второго зубы мелкие и слабые, тонкие и предназначенные только для рыбы. Джунгариптерус питался по берегам водоёмов, а нориптерус охотился преимущественно над глубокими водами. 

 Репродукции (1, 2, 3):

 

                                                            Внизу, окрашен фиолетовым цветом.

 

 

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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, джунгариптероиды, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры

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 Nemicolopterus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur, described in 2008. The type and only known species is N. crypticus. It lived in the Jehol Biota 120 million years ago. Its wingspan of slightly under 25 centimeters (10 in) makes it smaller than any but a few specimens of hatchling pterosaurs. The specimen is not fully grown, but Wang et al. (2008) cite the amount of bone fusion and the ossification of the toes, gastralia and sternum to indicate that it was a sub-adult rather than a hatchling.

 Darren Naish argued on his popular weblog that, due to the fact pterosaurs are highly precocial, bone fusion and ossification could occur very early, and Nemicolopterus might in fact be a hatchling individual of the genus Sinopterus.

 The generic name "Nemicolopterus" comes from the Greek words as follows. "Nemos" means "forest", "ikolos" means "dweller", and "pteros" means "wing". The specific name crypticus is from "kryptos", meaning "hidden". Thus "Nemicolopterus crypticus" means "Hidden flying forest dweller".

 N. crypticus is known from one fossil, given the catalog number IVPP V-14377. It is in the collection of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, China. The fossil was collected from the Jiufotang Formation, which is of Aptianage (120 mya). It was discovered in the Luzhhouou locality of Yaolugou Town, Jianchang County, Huludao City, western Liaoning Province in northeastern China.

 Nemicolopterus is a toothless pterosaur. Wang et al. (2008) concluded that it is a primitive intermediate between the toothed pterosaurs of the Ornithocheiroidea and the often toothless pterosaurs of the Dsungaripteroidea. Though Nemicolopterus is tiny, some of the members of these groups eventually evolved into the largest flying animals that ever lived, like Quetzalcoatlus.

 Nemicolopterus also demonstrates clear adaptations of the toes and claws for grasping tree branches. Most pterosaurs are known from marine sediments, meaning that they probably caught fish in the ocean and landed on the adjacent beaches or cliffs. Nemicolopterus, on the other hand, is one of just a few known pterosaurs that lived in the continental interior, and probably hunted insects and roosted in the forest canopy. Its worth to note the contemporaneous pterosaur linage Tapejaridae (such as Sinopterus, which Nemicolopterus might actually be synonymous with), however, also shows strong adaptations to climbing.

 Самый небольшой вид древних летающих ящеров был обнаружен в Китае. Размах крыльев у найденного птерозавра-подростка составляет всего 25 сантиметров – совсем как у обычного домового воробья. Окаменелости этого крохотного ящера были найдены в провинции Ляонин. Ему было присвоено имя Nemicolopterus crypticus, что можно перевести как "скрытный летающий лесной житель". Этот маленький птерозавр представляет собой не только новый вид, но и новую группу отряда птерозавров, ранее неизвестную. А жил этот птерозавр примерно 120 миллионов лет назад.

 Скелет птерозавра Nemicolopterus crypticus сохранился почти полностью, что позволило сделать ряд интересных и важных выводов.  Так, изученный экземпляр ещё не вполне достиг размеров и возраста взрослой особи, хотя по всем признакам вылупился из яйца давно. Попадавшиеся палеонтологам ранее, образцы птерозавров меньшего размера, были явно моложе, на момент своей гибели, данной особи птерозавра. Потому, на данный момент, это самый маленький птерозавр из всех найденных.

 Птерозавры жили от 228 до 65 миллионов лет назад и насчитывали, по оценкам учёных, даже больше видов, чем современные птицы. По мнению авторов работы, данное существо открывает новую главу в эволюции летающих рептилий, поскольку ранее не были известны примеры столь хорошей адаптации птерозавров к жизни в кронах деревьев. Получается, что Nemicolopterus crypticus хозяйничал среди ветвей больше, чем какой-либо другой известный птерозавр, и данное открытие расширяет не только разнообразие видов птерозавров, и без того — феноменальное, но и разнообразие мест их обитания, и соответственно - их образа жизни.

 Учёные выяснили, что беззубый Nemicolopterus crypticus обладает рядом анатомических особенностей, выделяющих его среди всех птерозавров. Например, необычно сильный изгиб костей стопы, показавший исследователям, что этот птерозавр-воробей значительную часть времени проводил на деревьях, обитая в пологе леса и питаясь насекомыми. Отмечен и ряд других отличий в строении черепа и конечностей.

 Положение птерозавра Nemicolopterus crypticus на эволюционном древе летающих ящеров указывает на его родство с более крупными птерозаврами, в том числе с видами, обладавшими размахом крыльев более 10 м, а по некоторым данным и до 18 м. Учёные считают, что группа птерозавров, к которой относится птерозавр-воробей Nemicolopterus crypticus, родственна группе Ornithocheiroidea.

 Учёные считают, что в целом птерозавры постепенно эволюционировали от небольших видов к крупным, научившись на каком-то этапе развития питаться рыбой, вместо насекомых, как это делал Nemicolopterus crypticus. Известно, что многие виды птерозавров обитали именно на берегу морей и океанов, где и добывали себе пропитание.

 Ископаемые останки:

Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры

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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархиды, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры

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 Lonchodectes (meaning "lance biter") was a genus of pterosaur from several formations dating to the Turonian (Late Cretaceous, though possibly as early as the Valanginian) of England, mostly in the area around Kent. The species belonging to it had been assigned to Ornithocheirus until David Unwin's work of the 1990s and 2000s, and the genus is not universally accepted as distinct. Several potential species are known; most are based on scrappy remains, and have gone through several other generic assignments. The genus is part of the complex taxonomy issues surrounding Early Cretaceous pterosaurs from Brazil and England, such as Amblydectes, Anhanguera, Coloborhynchus, and Ornithocheirus.

 Numerous species have been referred to this genus over time, and only those more widely connected with the genus are included here.

 The type species, L. compressirostris, is based on BMNH 39410, a partial upper jaw from the Turonian-age Upper Cretaceous Upper Chalk near Kent. Richard Owen named in 1851 as a species of Pterodactylus; it was transferred to Ornithocheirus in 1870 by Harry Govier Seeley, before becoming the type species of Lonchodectes in Reginald Walter Hooley's 1914 review of Ornithocheirus. Confusingly, this species was also long regarded, incorrectly, as the type species of Ornithocheirus.

 Hooley added two other species at this time, both of which had also been originally referred to Pterodactylus, then to Ornithocheirus: L. giganteus, a Cenomanian-age jaw fragment; and L. daviesii, another jaw fragment, from an Albian-age formation.

 The genus acquired several more former Pterodactylus and Ornithocheirus species in the 1990s-2000s. L. sagittirostris, based on BMNH R1823, a lower jaw fragment from the ?Valanginian-Hauterivian-age Lower Cretaceous Hastings Beds of East Sussex, and L. platystomus had been acquired by 2000. Two additional species based on jaw fragments, both from the Albian-age Cambridge Greensand, were added by 2003: L. machaerorhynchus and L. microdon, joining L. compressirostris, L. giganteus, L. platystomus, and L. sagittirostris in his listing of valid species. However, L. giganteus, L. machaerorhynchus, and L. microdon have since been assigned to a new genus, Lonchodraco, while L. sagittirostris has been removed from Lonchodectes and treated as a nomen dubium at Pterodactyloidea incertae sedis.

 The genus is poorly known and not universally accepted, as noted above. In Peter Wellnhofer's 1991 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs the other major recent synopsis of pterosaurs, written before Unwin's work, the species are included with Ornithocheirus (because of L. compressirostris being thought to be the type species), and are in fact the main fossils illustrated to represent the genus. Unwin placed them in their own family, Lonchodectidae, which he grouped with the ctenochasmatoids in 2003, and with the azhdarchoids, including the tapejarids and azhdarchids, in 2006.

 Unwin considers Lonchodectes to have been a generalist, like a seagull, with its conservative jaws and teeth (like those of the much older Pterodactylus) and small to medium size; he estimates its maximum wingspan at about 2 m (6.6 ft). Lonchodectes had long jaws with many short teeth, and the jaws were compressed vertically, like "a pair of sugar tongs with teeth". At least some of these species had crests on their lower jaws.

 Recent studies, however, show that it had limb proportions akin to those of azhdarchids, and might have lived similarly.

 Репродукции (1, 2):

                                                    Маленький птерозавр с левой стороны рисунка.

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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры

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 Лакусовагус (Lacusovagus; «озерный странник») — род птерозавров семейства Chaoyangopteridae, обитавший в меловом периоде примерно 115 млн лет назад. Ископаемые останки, найденные в отложениях на северо-востоке Бразилии, были описаны в 2008 году. Сохранились только фрагменты черепа. Размах крыльев составлял около пяти метров.

 Lacusovagus (meaning "lake wanderer") is a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil. It is based on SMNK PAL 4325, a partial upper jaw comprising sections of the skull in front of the eyes. This specimen was found in rocks of the Early Cretaceous-age (probably Aptian stage, about 120 million years ago) Nova Olinda Member of the Crato Formation. The skull was long, and unusually wide. The section in front of the combined nasal-antorbital fenestra was relatively short. Also unusual was the combination of its toothless jaws and no bony head crest. Lacusovagus was described in 2008 by Mark Witton. The type species is L. magnificens, meaning "grand lake wanderer", in reference to its large size — it is currently the largest pterosaur known from the Crato Formation with an estimated wingspan of 4.1 meters (13 feet).

 Lacusovagus shares many characteristics with the basal azhdarchoid family Chaoyangopteridae, and preliminary studies suggested it was a member of that clade.

 The Chaoyangopteridae are a family of pterosaurs within the Azhdarchoidea.

 The clade Chaoyangopteridae was first defined in 2008 by Lü Junchang and David Unwin as: "Chaoyangopterus, Shenzhoupterus, their most recent common ancestor and all taxa more closely related to this clade than to Tapejara, Tupuxuara or Quetzalcoatlus". Based on neck and limb proportions, it has been suggested they occupied a similar ecological niche to that of azhdarchid pterosaurs, though it is possible they were more specialised as several genera occur in Liaoning, while azhdarchids usually occur by one genus in a specific location. The Chaoyangopteridae are mostly known from Asia, though the possible member Lacusovagus occurs in South America and there are possible fossil remains from Africa.

 Учёные определили новый вид птерозавра. Это самый крупный хаоянгоптерид из всех известных и единственный в своёй группе, найденный за пределами Китая. С классификацией огромной твари разобрался Марк Уиттон (Mark Witton) из университета Портсмута (University of Portsmouth).
 
 Новый вид птерозавра представляет собой и новый род, относящийся к группе Chaoyangopteridae — беззубым летающим ящерам. Это важно, поскольку до сих пор Chaoyangopteridae находили только на территории Китая, а новый вид был найден в Бразилии.

 «Ранее в Китае уже находили останки животных этого семейства (Chaoyangopteridae), — рассказывает Марк Уиттон. — По величине они не превышали 60 сантиметров, что сравнимо с размерами черепа обнаруженного в Бразилии экземпляра. Размах его крыльев должен был составлять около пяти метров». Исследователь дал новому виду имя Lacusovagus («озерный странник»).

 При идентификации образца у исследователя возникли проблемы: обычно останки из этих районов Бразилии поступают в прекрасном (по меркам палеонтологии) состоянии, однако череп Lacusovagus был сильно сдавлен. Даже то, что у рептилии не было зубов, ученому пришлось доказывать косвенно. С уверенностью можно говорить лишь о том, что череп птерозавра был очень широк; возможно, это позволяло ему охотиться на весьма крупных животных. «Впрочем, — заключает Марк Уиттон, — пока мы располагаем лишь отрывочными данными. Необходимо отыскать еще несколько образцов — вот тогда можно будет сделать определенные выводы».

 По заверениям исследователей, обитал этот ящер на больших озёрах, за что и получил латинское обозначение вида . Стоящий на земле птерозавр превышал метр в плечах (а подняв голову, оказывался бы сравним по росту со взрослым человеком). Ну а расправив крылья, это чудище могло похвастать пятиметровым их размахом.

 Любопытно, что перед отправкой на анализ к Марку и его коллегам этот экземпляр птерозавра пролежал в одном из немецких музеев несколько лет.

 Уиттон радуется результатам, поясняя: то, что этот ящер был открыт в Бразилии, доказывает, как мало ещё учёные знают об эволюции и распространении этих удивительных созданий.

 Репродукции (1, 2, 3, 4):

 Ископаемые останки:

Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры, хаоянгоптериды

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 Hatzegopteryx (рум. Hațeg — название румынского города, πτέρυξ — крыло) — род аждархидовых птерозавров, известный по останкам, найденным в Трансильвании в 2002 году. Черепные фрагменты, левая плечевая кость, и другие ископаемые останки указывают на то, что Hatzegopteryx был одним из самых крупных птерозавров.

 Род был назван в 2002 году французским палеонтологом Eric Buffetaut и румынскими палеонтологами Dan Grigorescu и Zoltan Csiki. Включает в себя только один вид Hatzegopteryx thambema. Название рода образовано от румынского города Хацег (кости Hatzegopteryx были найдены в районе так называемого «Hațeg Island (англ.)») и греч. πτέρυξ «крыло». Видовое название thambema образовано от греч. "монстр" и отсылает к размерам Hatzegopteryx.

 Останки Hatzegopteryx относятся к Densus Ciula Formation в западной Румынии, которая датируется поздним маастрихтом (верхний мел, приблизительно 65 млн лет назад). Голотип, FGGUB R 1083A, состоит из задней части черепа и поврежденной проксимальной части левой плечевой кости. 38,5-сантиметровый диафиз бедренной кости, найденный поблизости (FGGUB R1625), может тоже принадлежать Hatzegopteryx.

 Hatzegopteryx, предположительно, имел крепкий расширяющийся в задней части череп и массивные челюсти. Многие ископаемые кости Hatzegopteryx сильно схожи с костями Quetzalcoatlus sp., но у Hatzegopteryx был намного более тяжелый череп и другое сочленение челюстей, похожее на таковое у птеранодона. Сравнивая с черепами других птерозавров: Nyctosaurus и Anhanguera, Buffetaut с коллегами, при описании найденных образцов дают оценку длины черепа Hatzegopteryx до 3 м, что больше, чем у кетцалькоатля.

 Авторы оценивали размер Hatzegopteryx, сравнивая фрагмент плечевой кости длиной 23,6 см, с плечевой костью кетцалькоатля, считавшегося ранее самым крупным известным птерозавром. Образец кетцалькоатля TMM 41450-3 имеет плечевую кость длиной 54,4 см. Фрагмент плечевой кости Hatzegopteryx меньше половины целой, поэтому она, скорее всего, была немного длиннее кости кетцалькоатля. Размах крыльев последнего был в 1981 году оценен в 11—12 метров, более ранние оценки же говорили о 15—20 метрах. Отсюда авторы заключили, что оценка размаха крыла в 12 метров достаточно скромна, «если его плечевая кость была действительно длиннее, чем таковая у Q. northropi». В 2003 году оценки были пересмотрены: размах крыльев  Hatzegopteryx был оценен приблизительно в 12 метров, а длина черепа — свыше 2,5 метра. В 2010 году Mark Witton заявил, что кажущееся превосходство размеров плечевой кости Hatzegopteryx вызвано её деформацией после отложения в породе, так что, вероятно, размах крыльев Hatzegopteryx был не больше, чем размах крыльев кетцокоатля, сегодня обычно оцениваемый в 10—11 метров.

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 Репродукции (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9):

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 Размеры тела в сравнении с человеком и жирафом:

 Ископаемые останки:

Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, аждархиды, аждархойды, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры

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