Сообщество, посвящённое ра
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Below are the 6 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Сообщество, посвящённое ра" journal:
09:42 pm [industrialterro]
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Haopterus
Haopterus is a pterodactyloid pterosaur genus from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. It was in 2001 named by Wang Xiaolin and Lü Junchang. The type species is Haopterus gracilis. The genus name honours Professor Hao Yichun and combines his name with a Latinised Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name, "slender-built" in Latin, refers to the condition of the metatarsals. The genus is based on holotype IVPP V11726, a crushed fossil found in 1998 at the Sihetun-locality. The layer it was discovered in, was argon-dated at an age of 124.6 million years. It was the first Chinese pterosaur fossil preserving the skull. It consists of the front half of a subadult, including a skull, lower jaws, pectoral girdle, sternum, wings, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, partial pelvis and metatarsals. The skull is with a length of 145 millimetres long and low, lacking a crest. The snout is pointed but rounded. The maxilla and praemaxilla are completely fused with no visible suture. The nasopraeorbital skull opening is elongated and elliptical with a length of four centimetres, 27,6% of the total skull length. The lower jaws have a length of 128 millimetres. On the front two thirds of their length teeth are present. There are twelve pairs of teeth in both the upper and the lower jaws. The teeth are robust, sharp, pointed, and curving backwards. To the front they gradually increase in length and point more to the front. The first three pairs in the praemaxilla are very small though; the describers assumed these were replacement teeth, recently erupted. The back of the skull and the cervical vertebrae are strongly crushed, obscuring most details. Eight dorsal vertebrae are preserved, with a total length of 52 millimetres. The sternum was fan-shaped with a prominent keel. The wings are robustly built; the ulna is with 101 millimetres longer than the wing metacarpal which has a length of 89 millimetres. The wingspan of the type individual was estimated at 1.35 metre (4.43 ft). In comparison the hindlimbs must have been weakly built, the metatarsal having a length of just seventeen millimetres. The authors concluded that its slender hindfeet meant that it was forced to move quadrupedally on land, suggesting a piscivore lifestyle as a specialised soarer. Haopterus was by Wang classified as a member of the Pterodactylidae, mainly because of the combination of robust teeth with the lack of a skull crest. In 2006 however, a cladistic analysis by Lü showed it was a basal member of the Ornithocheiridae.
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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейриды, орнитохейройды, птеродактили, птерозавры
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07:39 pm [industrialterro]
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Tropeognathus
Tropeognathus is a genus of large pterosaurs from the late Cretaceous Period of South America. It was member of the Ornithocheiridae (alternately Anhangueridae), a group of pterosaurs known for their keel-tipped snouts, and was closely related to species of the genus Anhanguera. It is known primarily for the species Tropeognathus mesembrinus, though a second species, Tropeognathus robustus, has been named in the genus. In the 1980s the German Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie at Munich acquired a pterosaur skull from Brazilian fossil dealers, that had probably been found in Ceará, in the Chapade do Araripe. In 1987 it was named and described as the type species Tropeognathus mesembrinus by Peter Wellnhofer. The generic name is derived from Greek τρόπις, tropis, "keel", and γνάθος, gnathos, "jaw". The specific name is derived from Koine mesembrinos, "of the noontide", "southern", in reference to the provenance from the Southern hemisphere. The holotype, BSP 1987 I 46, was discovered in a layer of the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation, dating from the Aptian-Albian. It consists of a skull with lower jaws. A second specimen was referred by André Jacques Veldmeijer in 2002: SMNS 56994, consisting of partial lower jaws. In 2013, Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner referred a third, larger, specimen: MN 6594-1, a skeleton with skull, with extensive elements of all body parts, except the tail and the lower hindlimbs. After Tropeognathus mesembrinus was named by Peter Wellnhofer in 1987 other researchers tended to consider it part of several other genera, leading to an enormous taxonomic confusion. It was considered an Anhanguera mesembrinus by Alexander Kellner in 1989, a Coloborhynchus mesembrinus by Veldmeijer in 1998 and a Criorhynchus mesembrinus by Michael Fastnacht in 2001. In 2001, David Unwin referred the Tropeognathus material to Ornithocheirus simus, making Tropeognathus mesembrinus a junior synonym, though he again reinstated a Ornithocheirus mesembrinus in 2003. Veldmeijer in 2003 accepted that Tropeognathus and Ornithocheirus were cogeneric but rejecting O. simus as the type species of Ornithocheirus in favor of O. compressirostris (named Lonchodectes by Unwin), used the names Criorhynchus simus and Criorhynchus mesembrinus. In 2000, Kellner again began to use the original name Tropeognathus mesembrinus. In 2013, Taissa Rodrigues and Kellner concluded Tropeognathus to be valid, and containing only T. mesembrinus. In 1987 Wellnhofer named a second species, Tropeognathus robustus, based on specimen BSP 1987 I 47, a more robust lower jaw. Today, this is no longer considered cogeneric with Tropeognathus mesembrinus. Tropeognathus mesembrinus is known to have reached wingspans of up to 8.2 m (27 ft), as can be inferred from the size of specimen MN 6594-1. T. mesembrinus bore distinctive convex "keeled" crests on its snout and underside of the lower jaws. The upper crests arose from the snout tip and extended back to the fenestra nasoantorbitalis, the large opening in the skull side. An additional, smaller crest projected down from the lower jaws at their symphysis ("chin" area). While many ornithocheirids had a small, rounded bony crest projecting from the back of the skull, this was particularly large and well-developed in Tropeognathus. The first five dorsal vertebrae are fused in to a notarium. Five sacral vertebrae are fused into a synsacrum. The third and fourth sacral vertebrae are keeled. The front blade of the ilium is strongly directed upwards. In 1987 Wellnhofer assigned Tropeognathus to a Tropeognathidae. This concept was not adopted by other workers; Brazilian researchers place Tropeognathus mesembrinus in the Anhangueridae, their European colleagues tend to prefer the Ornithocheiridae. Тропеогнат был одним из крупнейших птерозавров мелового периода и ярким представителем группы Ornithocheiridae, отличавшихся своим крупными килеобразными выростами на конце челюстей от других птеродактилей. Впервые тропеогнат был описан в 1980 г., когда немецкий музей Bayerische Staatssammlung fur Palaontologie und Historische Geologie выкупил у бразильских продавцов окаменелостей огромного летающего ящера, который был обнаружен в местонахождении Сеара на севере Бразилии. Вид в 1987 г. получил типовое наименование Tropeognathus mesembrinus. Тропеогнаты достигали достаточно внушительных размеров: размах крыльев этих ящеров достигал 8,2 метров. Как отмечалось ранее, отличительная черта орнитохейрид: килевые гребни на конце морды, верхний из которых шел от конца челюсти и до начала анторбитального отверстия (antorbitalis fenestra). Нижний гребень был немного меньше и представлял собой расширение подбородочной кости. Грудные позвонки у тропеогната были мощными и были слиты в единый костный выступ, поддерживающий объемные мышечные маховые связки. Крестцовые позвонки также слиты в одно костное образование. В сериале ВВС «Прогулки с динозаврами» одна из серий посвящена жизни летающего гиганта Ornithocheirus, который, на самом деле, является представителем Tropeognathus mesembrinus. В сериале использовались данные по окаменелостям летающего ящера, обнаруженного в 1998 г. на севере Бразилии. Расчетные показатели свидетельствовали о том, что этот бразильский гигант мог достигать размаха крыльев в 12 метров и был весом до 100 кг, что делало его одним из самых крупных обнаруженных птерозавров. Однако типовые экземпляры Ornithocheirus не превышают 6 метров в размахе крыльев. Окаменелости из Бразилии еще находились на стадии изучения и только в 2012 г. Дэйв Мартилл и Хайнц Петер Бредов опубликовали окончательную оценку размеров найденной особи, согласно которой этот экземпляр тропеогната не мог превышать 8,2 м. в размахе крыльев. Х.П. Бредов пояснил: «Вероятно, при работе над сериалом были использованы самые максимальные из возможных показателей, чтобы сериал казался более захватывающим и зрелищным». У этих летающих ящеров был достаточно развит половой диморфизм: самки были мельче в размерах и имели менее выраженные выросты на челюстях. Анализ строения нижних конечностей тропеогната свидетельствует о том, что этот птерозавр вполне был способен перемещаться по плоской поверхности, а не только по скальным выступам и утесам, как большинство других птерозавров. Длинные, острые и изогнутые зубы, разного размера говорят о рыбоядной специализации тропеогната. Предполагается, что ящер парил над поверхностью воды, вылавливая рыбу из верхних слоев океана, причем в данном случае, выступающие гребни на челюстях служили своеобразным стабилизатором при полете. В меловом периоде птерозавры, в целом, характеризуются увеличением своих размеров, размах крыльев некоторых видов достигает поистине неимоверных величин, в то же самое время видовое разнообразие летающих ящеров становится очень разнообразным. Поэтому тропеогнат, наряду с гигантскими аждархидами, является ярким представителем гигантизма и разнообразия летающих ящеров в меловом периоде.
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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейриды, орнитохейройды, птеранодонтойды, птеродактили, птерозавры
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12:50 pm [industrialterro]
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Ornithocheirus
Орнитохейр (др.-греч. ὄρνις «птица» и χείρ «рука») — крупный птерозавр раннего мелового периода с размахом крыльев в 2,5 - 5 метров. Орнитохейр обитал в Европе 110 млн. лет назад. Его узкий удлинённый череп плавно переходил в длинный клюв, унизанный острыми зубами. Орнитохейры, по-видимому, населяли побережья морей, берега больших озёр и речные поймы.
Используя восходящие потоки воздуха, наиболее крупные орнитохейры вполне могли пролетать сотни километров, едва взмахивая крыльями. Этому способствовал также относительно небольшой вес, поскольку в костях рептилии находились так называемые «воздушные мешки». С высоты эти птерозавры опускались к поверхности воды за рыбой. Заметив добычу, птерозавр мгновенно погружал в воду клюв, смыкал челюсти и заглатывал рыбу целиком. Высокий килевидный гребень на клюве, по-видимому, помогал орнитохейру удерживать его в вертикальном положении в воде. На суше орнитохейр, как и большинство других птерозавров, двигался медленно и неуклюже, что делало его лёгкой добычей даже для некрупных хищников. Чтобы обезопасить себя от врагов, птерозавры гнездились многочисленными колониями недалеко от воды. А это значит, что прибрежные скалы, утёсы и другие наиболее безопасные и удобные места для гнездования были перенаселены. Окаменевшие кости орнитохейра впервые были найдены в Южной Англии в 1827 году, но свое название этот птерозавр получил только в 1869 году. Размах крыльев у большинства видов орнитохейра не превышал 2,5 м, однако сравнительно недавно в бразильских горах Сантана были найдены останки настоящего орнитохейра-исполина, размах крыльев которого превышал 8 м (ныне этот вид реклассифицирован в отдельный род Tropeognathus). Хотя окаменелости птерозавров известны ученым более 250 лет, одним из первых официального научного названия удостоился орнитохейр. Было описано около 30 видов орнитохейров, но ныне многие из них переклассифицированы в другие роды птерозавров. Ornithocheirus (from Greek "ορνις", meaning bird, and "χειρ", meaning hand) is a pterosaur genus known from fragmentary fossil remains uncovered from sediments in the UK. Several species have been referred to the genus, most of which are now considered as dubious species, or members of different genera, and the genus is now often considered to include only the type species, Ornithocheirus simus. Species have been referred to Ornithocheirus from the mid-Cretaceous period of both Europe and South America, but O. simus is known only from the UK. Because O. simus was originally named based on poorly preserved fossil material, the genus Ornithocheirus has suffered enduring problems of zoological nomenclature. Fossil remains of Ornithocheirus have been recovered mainly from the Cambridge Greensand of England, dating to the beginning of the Albian stage of the late Cretaceous period, about 110 million years ago. Additional fossils from theSantana Formation of Brazil, dating to 112-108 million years ago, are sometimes classified as species of Ornithocheirus, but have also been placed in their own genera, most notably Tropeognathus. The original material of Ornithocheirus simus, recovered from England, indicates a mid-sized species with a wing span of 2.5 m (8.2 ft). Referred specimens attributed to Ornithocheirus simus can reach 5 m (16.5 ft). O. simus bore a distinctive convex "keeled" crest on its snout. Unlike the related Anhanguera and Coloborhynchus, which had an expanded rosette of teeth at the jaw tips, Ornithocheirus species (including O. simus) had straight jaws that narrowed toward the tip. Also unlike related pterosaurs, the teeth of Ornithocheiruswere mostly vertical, rather than set at an outward-pointing angle. They also had fewer teeth than related species. The type specimen of Ornithocheirus simus is represented only by a broken piece of the upper jaw tip. While it does preserve several characteristic features of Ornithocheirus, it is nearly identical to comparable bones in Tropeognathus mesembrinus, making clear distinction between these two species impossible. ( Read More )</span> Репродукции (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6):






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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейриды, орнитохейройды, птеранодонтойды, птеродактили, птерозавры
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08:46 pm [industrialterro]
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Coloborhynchus
Coloborhynchus is a genus in the pterosaur family Ornithocheiridae, and is known from the Lower Cretaceous of England (Albian age, 98 million years ago), and possibly the Aptian age (112-99 million years ago) of Brazil and Texas, depending on which species are included. The type specimen of Coloborhynchus is known only from a partial upper jaw. Therefore, according to Rodrigues and Kellner's 2008 re-evaluation on Coloborhynchus clavirostris, it can only be differentiated from its relatives based on its unique combination of tooth socket positions. In Coloborhynchus, the two front teeth pointed forward and were higher on the jaw than the other teeth, while the next three pairs of teeth pointed to the sides. The final two (preserved) pairs of teeth pointed downward. Finally, a unique oval depression was located below the first pair of teeth. Like the related Anhanguera and Uktenadactylus, the tip of the snout flared out into a wider rosette, in contrast to the narrow posterior jaws. However, whereas the rosettes of species typically assigned to Anhanguera were rounded and spoon-shaped, those of Сoloborhynchus were robust and box-shaped. Also like its close relatives, Coloborhynchus had a keel-shaped crest on the front of its jaws, though it was broad and thinned from base to top, rather than the uniformly thin crests of its relatives. This kind of thickened crest is also seen in Siroccopteryx moroccensis, which may be its closest relative or a member of the same genus. It also had a straight, rather than curved, front margin, unlike its relatives, and begins at the tip of the snout, rather than further back as in other species. A second specimen showing all of these same unique features was reported to Brazilian paleontologist Alexander Kellner by Darren Naish in 2007, and likely represents a second specimen of C. clavirostris, though it has not yet been described. The possible species Coloborhynchus capito represents the largest known ornithocheirid, and indeed the largest toothed pterosaur known. A referred specimen from the Cambridge Greensand of England described in 2011 consists of a very large upper jaw tip which displays the tooth characteristics that distinguish C. capito from other species. The jaw tip is nearly 10 cm tall and 5.6 cm wide, with teeth up to 1.3 cm in base diameter. If the proportions of this specimen were consistent with other known species of Coloborhycnhus, the total skull length could have been up to 75 cm, leading to an estimated wingspan of 7 metres (23 ft). Like many ornithocheiroid pterosaurs named during the 19th century, Coloborhynchus has a highly convoluted history of classification. Over the years numerous species have been assigned to it, and often, species have been shuffled between Coloborhynchus and related genera by various researchers. In 1874 Richard Owen, rejecting the creation by Harry Govier Seeley of the genus Ornithocheirus, named a species Coloborhynchus clavirostris based on holotype BMNH 1822, a partial snout from the Hastings Beds of the Wealden Group of East Sussex, England. The genus name means "maimed beak", a reference to the damaged and eroded condition of the fossil; the specific name means "key snout", referring to its form in cross-section. Owen also reclassified Ornithocheirus cuvieri and O. sedgwickii as species within the genus Coloborhycnhus, though he did not designate any of these three as the type species. Owen considered the defining trait of the genus to be the location of the front tooth pairs high on the side of the upper jaws. However, in 1913 Reginald Walter Hooley concluded that this location was an artefact of the erosion and that the genus was indistinguishable from Criorhynchus simus, the second genus and species Owen erected in 1874. Hooley also ignored Owen's re-assignment of the two former Ornithocheirus species, leaving them in that genus. In 1967, Kuhn agreed with Hooley that Coloborhynchus clavirostris was a synonym of Criorhynchus simus. Furthermore, Kuhn was the first to formally designate C. clavirostris as the type species of the genus, rather than one of the Ornithocheirus species. Most later researchers followed these opinions, regarding Coloborhynchus as invalid relative to Criorhynchus. This changed in 1994 when Yuong-Nam Lee named Coloborhynchus wadleighi for a snout found in 1992 in the Albian age Paw Paw Formation Texas. The revival of the genus meant that of several related species, then assigned to other genera, had to be re-evaluated to determine whether or not they actually belonged to Coloborhynchus. In 2008, Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner re-formulated the key features of Coloborhynchus, again based mainly on the unique positions of the tooth sockets. Rodrigues and Kellner argued that Lee's C. wadleighi, which possessed some differences in the skull and teeth from C. clavirostris, and from an earlier time period, belonged in its own genus, which they named Uktenadactylus. A partial lower jaw originally named Tropeognathus robustus from the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation in Brazil was assigned to Coloborhycnhus in 2001 by Fastnacht, as Coloborhynchus robustus. In 2002, David Unwin supported this position, and also synonymized the more well-known species Anhanguera piscator with C. robustus. Rodrigues and Kellner disagreed with this classification, however, noting that both did not possess the unique straightened crest beginning at the snout tip, or sideways pointed teeth, of C. clavirostris. Instead, Rodrigues and Kellner regarded both Anhanguera robustus and Anhanguera piscator as valid species of Anhanguera. Another Brazilian species from the Romualdo Member was named Coloborhynchus speilbergi by Veldmeijer in 2003. It shares one or two characters in common with C. clavirostris (such as a flattened upper surface of the snout), though Rodrigues and Kellner regarded them as dubious, and noted that they are also present in related species and so are not unique to Coloborhynchus. Rodrigues and Kellner also noted that C. speilbergi didn't have as high a tooth row (exposing the palate) as the type species. Its crest is also very thin, similar to Anhanguera, to which genus Kellner assigned it in 2006. Similarly, Kellner excluded C. araripensis (formerly assigned to the genus Santanadactylus) from the genus, based on lack of comparable diagnostic features. Unwin, in 2001, assigned the species Siroccopteryx moroccensis to Coloborhycnhus, based on its similarity to C. wadleighi (aka Uktenadactylus). Kellner, who regarded Uktenadactylus as a distinct genus in 2008, also regarded Siroccopteryx as distinct, and noted that like the other species assigned to Coloborhynchus, lacked its unique characteristics of the tooth row, a position also supported by Fastnacht in 2001. Finally, Unwin (in 2001) also re-assigned the two other species from the Cambridge Greensand to Coloborhycnhus: C. capito and C. sedgwickii, the second of which being one of the original members of the genus according to Richard Owen in 1874. According to Kellner, C. capito is too incomplete to fully compare to C. claviraostris, and its precise classification is open to debate. He noted that C. sedgwicki does not possess the unique features of C. clavirostris (in fact it lacks a crest altogether), and may instead belong to the same genus as "Ornithocheirus" compressirostris (=Lonchodectes). In 2013, Rodrigues and Kellner considered Coloborhynchus to be monotypic, containing only C. clavirostris, and placed most other species in other genera, or declared them nomina dubia. Палеонтологи определили птерозавра с самыми крупными зубами. К тому же Coloborhynchus capito назван крупнейшим из известных зубастых птерозавров: размах крыльев этого ящера достигал семи метров. «Два первых зуба каждой челюсти направлены вперёд и, возможно, были до 7 см длиной, а два зуба за ними — чуть больше 10 см, — рассказывает соавтор работы Дэвид Мартилл из Портсмутского университета (Великобритания). — Вместе они образовывали своего рода розочку, подходящую и для ловли рыбы, и для того, чтобы припугнуть конкурента». Дэвид Мартилл и Дэвид Анвин из Лестерского университета (Великобритания) проанализировали фрагментарное ископаемое из коллекции лондонского Музея естественной истории. Его нашли в альбском ярусе нижнемеловой эпохи (около 100 млн лет назад) геологической формации Кембридж-Гринсэнд на востоке Англии. В те времена окрестности Кембриджа находились под водой, но, возможно, на юге Лондона располагался небольшой остров. В этих широтах царил тропический климат. Судя по другим находкам, регион кишел рыбой, ихтиозаврами, плезиозаврами, крокодилами, черепахами, динозаврами (в том числе примитивными птицами). Новый птерозавр уступает крупнейшему беззубому собрату под названием Quetzalcoatlus — с его девятиметровым размахом крыльев. Результаты исследования будут опубликованы в журнале Cretaceous Research.
Репродукции (1, 2, 3):



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



Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейриды, орнитохейройды, птеранодонтойды, птеродактили, птерозавры
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08:04 pm [industrialterro]
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Caulkicephalus
Caulkicephalus is a genus of pterosaur, belonging to the Pterodactyloidea, from the Isle of Wight off the coast of England. Between 1995 and 2003 bone fragments of an unknown pterosaur were found at the Yaverland locality near Sandown. The discoveries were made in or from a brown clay layer from the Wessex Formation of the Wealden Group, stemming from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian age, about 130 million years ago). In 2005 a new genus was named and described by Lorna Steel, David Martill, David Unwin and John Winch. The type species is Caulkicephalus trimicrodon. The genus name is a translation of "Caulkhead", a traditional nickname for Isle of Wight residents, partially derived from Greek kephale, "head". The specific name, trimicrodon, means "three small teeth", in reference to the dentition. The holotype is IWCMS 2002.189.1, 2, 4: three pieces, more or less contiguous, of the front part of a snout. As paratypes have been referred: IWCMS 2002.189.3, a partial posterior skull roof; IWCMS 2003.2, a left quadrate; IWCMS 2003.4, a possible partial jugal; ICWMS 2002.237, a 44 millimetres long fragment of the first phalanx of the wing finger; IWCMS 2002.234.1-4, four, together 245 millimetres long, contiguous fragments of a first phalanx; IWCMS 2002.233, a possible distal end, 64 millimetres long, of a second phalanx; IWCMS 2002.236, a fragment of the shaft of possibly the fourth phalanx; and IWCMS 2003.3, a probable fragment of a hindlimb bone. The fossils have only been slightly compressed. The snout fragments have a combined length of 290 millimetres. On the snout top the base of a crest is visible, not quite reaching its rounded tip. The teeth have, apart from some replacement teeth present deep in the jaw, been lost but their number, orientation and size can be inferred from the tooth sockets, which however are partly missing at the right side. These are oval and slightly elevated above the jaw bone. The first two tooth pairs were pointed somewhat to the front; the teeth more to the back pointed more sideways; the most posterior preserved stood perpendicular to the jaw. The teeth increased in size until the third pair which was the largest. The fourth pair was equal to the first but the fifth, sixth and seventh pairs were markedly smaller, less than half in size; it is this feature which is recalled by the specific name. Pairs eight, nine and ten again equalled the first. After a narrow hiatus between the second and third snout fragment four tooth sockets are present at each side of the latter, but these are not placed in opposite pairs. The number of teeth in the upper jaw thus seems to have been at least fourteen. The smaller sized teeth were placed in a constriction of the snout, which thus had a broader end with larger teeth, a so-called "prey grab", usually interpreted as an adaptation to catch slippery prey such as fish. The posterior skull fragment, a braincase which is rather damaged, shows on its top the base of a parietal crest, probably pointing towards the back. It seems to have been separate from the snout crest. Caulkicephalus was by the describers assigned to the Ornithocheiridae in view of the narrowing in the middle of the snout. The snout crest was seen as an indication it belonged to the more general Ornithocheiroidea sensu Unwin, whereas the parietal crest was suggested to have been a synapomorphy, a shared new feature, of the more narrow group of the Euornithocheira. Unique characters of the species itself, its autapomorphies, are the details of its dentition, the downwards and backwards running suture between the praemaxilla and maxilla, and the fact the median ridge of the palate begins (or ends) at the ninth tooth pair. The layer the fossils were found in, does not consist of marine sediments, but contains land plant debris; this is seen as an indication of a more terrestrial habitat. David Martill estimated Caulkicephalus had a wingspan of around 5 metres (16.5 ft).
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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейриды, орнитохейройды, птеранодонтойды, птеродактили, птерозавры
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Aetodactylus
Aetodactylus (meaning "eagle finger") is a genus of ornithocheirid pterodactyloid pterosaur. It is known from a lower jaw discovered in Upper Cretaceous rocks of northeastern Texas, United States. Aetodactylus is only the second ornithocheirid genus to be discovered in North America. Aetodactylus is based on SMU 76383 (Shuler Museum of Paleontology, Southern Methodist University), a nearly complete lower jaw lacking the right retroarticular process (the bony prong posterior to the jaw joint), part of the posterior end of the mandibular symphysis (where the two halves of the lower jaw meet), and all but two teeth. This specimen was found in 2006 by Lance Hall near a construction site in Mansfield, near Joe Pool Lake (recorded as SMU Loc. 424). The rock it was found in is a calcareous marine sandstone rich in mud–sized particles, from the middle Cenomanian-age (approximately 97 million years old) Tarrant Formation. Also found were fish teeth and vertebrae, and indeterminate bones. The Tarrant Formation is the lowest rock unit of the Cenomanian–Turonian–age Eagle Ford Group. Aetodactylus was named by Timothy S. Myers of SMU in 2010. The type species is A. halli, named in honor of the discoverer. Aetodactylus is differentiated from other ornithocheirids by several anatomical details of the lower jaw, including the slight expansion of the anterior end of the lower jaw, the strong vertical compression of the symphysis, the relatively constant spacing of the teeth, and the slight upward curve of the lower jaw. Myers found that Aetodactylus compared best with the Chinese genus Boreopterus. Aetodactylus represents one of the youngest definitive records of ornithocheirids. The jaw SMU 76383 is 38.4 centimetres (15.1 in) long, 15.8 centimetres (6.2 in) (~41%) of which is joined left and right jaws. 27 pairs of teeth were present; the two remaining teeth are pointed, curved slightly backward, flattened from side to side, and slender. The tip of the jaw is slightly expanded (to 1.6 centimetres (0.63 in) from a minimum of 1.3 centimetres (0.51 in) just posterior) and contains the first four pairs of teeth, with the first pair projecting forward. Based on the size of the tooth sockets, the teeth of the second and third pairs were largest, with tooth size decreasing posteriorly. There are small pits between the posterior teeth, interpreted as points where the teeth of the upper jaw rested against the lower jaw. These pits disappear partway along the tooth row, suggesting that the anterior teeth of the upper jaws were longer and projected outwards to a degree. Unlike some other ornithocheirids, such as Anhanguera, Coloborhynchus, and Ornithocheirus, there is no bony crest on the lower jaw. It is possible that Aetodactylus might be a boreopterid, as Myers identifies it as being closely related to Boreopterus, and many ornithocheirid remains might belong to boreopterids instead. ( Read More ) Репродукции (1, 2):  
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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Мел, авеметатарзалии, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, монофенестраты, орнитохейриды, орнитохейройды, птеранодонтойды, птеродактили, птерозавры
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