A late Jurassic pterosaur (Reptilia, Pterodactyloidea) from northwestern Patagonia, Argentina |
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| Authors: | Laura Codorniú Zulma Gasparini Ariana Paulina-Carabajal |
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| Institution: | aCONICET, Departamento de Geología, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, San Luis, Argentina;bCONICET, Departamento de Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, 1900 La Plata, Argentina;cMuseo Municipal Carmen Funes, Av. Córdoba 55, 8318 Plaza Huincul, Neuquén, Argentina |
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| Abstract: | A small to medium-sized pterodactyloid pterosaur (wingspan approximately 1.10 m) from the Upper Jurassic (middle-late Tithonian) marine deposits of the Vaca Muerta Formation of Patagonia (Los Catutos area, central Neuquén Province, Argentina) is reported. The specimen lacks the skull but constitutes a nearly complete postcranial skeleton, which includes cervical and dorsal vertebrae; a few thoracic ribs; both pectoral girdles; the left pelvic girdle; a proximal right wing (humerus, ulna, and radius) and metacarpal IV; a left wing that lacks only wing phalanx four; and both hindlimbs, the right one without the foot. Ontogenetic features suggest that the new fossil corresponds to a relatively mature individual, probably a subadult. Observed characters support its assignment to the Archaeopteroactyloidea, a basal clade within the Pterodactyloidea. This specimen is the second pterosaur from Los Catutos and the most complete Jurassic pterosaur so far known from South America. |
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| Keywords: | Argentina Middle– late Tithonian Neuqué n Basin Pterodactyloidea Pterosauria |
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