Post by OldGreenVulture on Nov 29, 2019 9:37:32 GMT
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 132 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Pterosauria
Suborder: †Pterodactyloidea
Clade: †Lanceodontia
Clade: †Targaryendraconia
Family: †Targaryendraconidae
Genus: †Targaryendraco Pêgas et al., 2019
Species: †Targaryendraco wiedenrothi (Wild, 1990)
Targaryendraco is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian) of Hannover, northern Germany.
Discovery and naming
In July 1984, amateur paleontologist Kurt Wiedenroth discovered a fragmentary pterosaur skeleton in the loam pit of Engelbostel at the southern edge of the city of Hanover.
In 1990, Rupert Wild described the find as a new species of Ornithocheirus: Ornithocheirus wiedenrothi. The specific name honours Wiedenroth as discoverer. Wild considered the skeleton to be similar to Ornithocheirus compressirostris, at the time seen as the type species of Ornithocheirus.
The holotype, SMNS 56628, was found in a layer of the Stadthagen Formation dating from the earliest Hauterivian, about 132 million years old. It consists of a partial skeleton with lower jaws. It contains the front and the rear of the symphysis of the lower jaws, a right articular, a rib piece, the distal ends of a left radius and ulna, the proximal and distal end of a left third metacarpal and a piece of a phalanx, probably the first of the left third finger. It might represent a subadult individual. The fossil is part of the collection of the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart. It is the most complete pterosaur specimen from the Lower Cretaceous of Germany.
In 2001, David Unwin suggested it might be a species of Lonchodectes; Ornithocheirus compressirostris itself was eventually also placed in this genus. In 2013, Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner concluded that in any case it was not a Ornithocheirus species. In 2019, Pascal Abel e.a. stated that a separate genus should be named.
In November 2019, Rodrigo Pêgas, Borja Holgado and María Eduarda Santos de Castro Leal named and described the genus Targaryendraco. The generic name combines a reference to the House Targaryen with a Latin draco, "dragon". Targaryen refers to the fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, in which dragons appear. Like these dragons, the fossil has dark bones. Also, pterosaurs have often been compared to dragons. The type species of the genus is Ornithocheirus wiedenrothi. The combinatio nova is Targaryendraco wiedenrothi. The Life Science Identifier of the genus is FFC0ECCC-C2DA-41D7-AA60-336B05D142F6.
Targaryendraco wiedenrothi (formerly ‘Ornithocheirus’), holotype SMNS 56628 (Hauterivian, Engelbostel clay pit, Hannover), anterior part of the mandibular symphysis. A dorsal view B respective line drawing C left lateral view D respective line drawing. Abbreviations: d – dentary, sul – sulcus. Arrows and numbers indicate alveoli or teeth and their respective position. Scale bar = 10 mm.
Description
In 2019, the describing authors abstained from giving a size estimate, in view of the fragmentary nature of the fossil. They estimated the wingspan of the most closely related species at 2,9 to four metres.
They indicated a single distinguishing trait. It is an autapomorphy, a unique derived character. The symphysis of the lower jaws has at the midline of its front an odontoid, or tooth-like, process, formed by a confluence of the side ridges of the occlusal groove, in the top surface of the joint dentaries.
Phylogeny
In 2019, Targaryendraco was placed within the Lanceodontia in an entirely new clade Targaryendraconia, and was more precisely a member of the newly named family Targaryendraconidae. In the latter clade it formed a polytomy with Aussiedraco and Barbosania.
Journal Reference:
Rodrigo V. Pêgas, Borja Holgado and Maria Eduarda C. Leal. 2019. On Targaryendraco wiedenrothi gen. nov. (Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontoidea, Lanceodontia) and Recognition of A New Cosmopolitan Lineage of Cretaceous Toothed Pterodactyloids. Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2019.1690482
ABSTRACT
Ornithocheirus wiedenrothi, from the Hauterivian (Early Cretaceous of Germany), is a taxon represented by three-dimensional remains of the lower jaw and wing elements. Its phylogenetic affinities have for long been elusive, though several works had already pointed out that it probably did not belong within the wastebasket genus Ornithocheirus. In the present contribution, we redescribe this species, assigning it to the new genus Targaryendraco and offering updated morphological comparisons. Subsequently, we present a phylogenetic analysis in which we recover a clade formed by Targaryendraco, Aussiedraco, Barbosania, Aetodactylus, Camposipterus and Cimoliopterus. This newly recognised clade is interesting in being quite cosmopolitan and spanning from the Hauterivian to the Cenomanian, like its sister-group, the Anhangueria. The recognition of this clade helps fill the temporal gap between the Anhangueria and Cimoliopterus, and also demonstrates that the diversity of Cretaceous toothed pterosaurs was higher than previously thought.
carnivora.net/targaryendraco-wiedenrothi-t7598.html#p89026
From Carnivora.