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Zhou X, Pêgas RV, Ma W, Han G, Jin X, Leal MEC, Bonde N, Kobayashi Y, Lautenschlager S, Wei X, Shen C, Ji S. A new darwinopteran pterosaur reveals arborealism and an opposed thumb. Curr Biol 2021; 31:2429-2436.e7. [PMID: 33848460 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Pterosaurs, which lived during the Mesozoic, were the first known vertebrates to evolve powered flight.1,2 Arboreal locomotion has been proposed for some taxa,3,4 and even considered to have played a role in the origin of pterosaur flight.5,6 Even so, there is still need for comprehensive quantitative ecomorphological analyses.3,4 Furthermore, skeletal adaptations correlated to specialized lifestyles are often difficult to recognize and interpret in fossils. Here we report on a new darwinopteran pterosaur that inhabited a unique forest ecosystem from the Jurassic of China. The new species exhibits the oldest record of palmar (or true) opposition of the pollex, which is unprecedented for pterosaurs and represents a sophisticated adaptation related to arboreal locomotion. Principal-coordinate analyses suggest an arboreal lifestyle for the new species but not for other closely related species from the same locality, implying a possible case of ecological niche partitioning. The discovery adds to the known array of pterosaur adaptations and the history of arborealism in vertebrates. It also adds to the impressive early bloom of arboreal communities in the Jurassic of China, shedding light on the history of forest environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuanyu Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China; Key Laboratory of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology (Ministry of Natural Resources), Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China; Beipiao Pterosaur Museum of China, Beipiao, Liaoning, China.
| | | | - Waisum Ma
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Gang Han
- Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology, Haikou, Hainan, China; Hainan Tropical Ocean University, Sanya, Hainan, China
| | - Xingsheng Jin
- Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | | | - Niels Bonde
- Zoological Museum (SNM), Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark; Fur Museum (Museum Salling), Fur, Denmark
| | | | - Stephan Lautenschlager
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Xuefang Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China; Key Laboratory of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology (Ministry of Natural Resources), Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China; Centre of Cores and Samples of Nature Resources, China Geological Survey, Beijing, China
| | - Caizhi Shen
- Dalian Natural History Museum, Dalian, Liaoning, China
| | - Shu'an Ji
- Key Laboratory of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology (Ministry of Natural Resources), Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China
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Limaverde S, Pêgas RV, Damasceno R, Villa C, Oliveira GR, Bonde N, Leal MEC. Interpreting character variation in turtles: Araripemys barretoi (Pleurodira: Pelomedusoides) from the Araripe Basin, Early Cretaceous of Northeastern Brazil. PeerJ 2020; 8:e9840. [PMID: 33062413 PMCID: PMC7531347 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.9840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2018] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The Araripe Basin (Northeastern Brazil) has yielded a rich Cretaceous fossil fauna of both vertebrates and invertebrates found mainly in the Crato and Romualdo Formations, of Aptian and Albian ages respectively. Among the vertebrates, the turtles were found to be quite diverse, with several specimens retrieved and five valid species described to this date for the Romualdo Formation. There were also records of turtles from Ipubi and Crato Formations, mainly fragmentary material which precluded proper specific identification; however, Araripemys barretoi is supposed to occur on both Crato and Romualdo Formations. Here we describe thirteen specimens of A. barretoi-including the first description of an almost complete individual, bearing a skull, from the Crato Formation. We report a great amount of morphological variation, interpreted as being essentially of intraspecific nature, including individual, sexual and ontogenetic variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saulo Limaverde
- Centro de Ciências, Departamento de Geologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Vargas Pêgas
- Laboratory of Vertebrate Paleontology and Animal Behaviour, Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rafael Damasceno
- Laboratório de Paleontologia & Sistemática, Área de Ecologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Chiara Villa
- Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Department of Forensic Medicine, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Gustavo R Oliveira
- Laboratório de Paleontologia & Sistemática, Área de Ecologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Niels Bonde
- Section Biosystematics, Zoological Museum (SNM, Copenhagen University), Copenhagen, Denmark.,Fur Museum (Museum Saling), Fur, Denmark
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Zhou X, Pêgas RV, Leal MEC, Bonde N. Nurhachius luei, a new istiodactylid pterosaur (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province (China) and comments on the Istiodactylidae. PeerJ 2019; 7:e7688. [PMID: 31579592 PMCID: PMC6754973 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
A new istiodactylid pterosaur, Nurhachius luei sp. nov., is here reported based on a complete skull with mandible and some cervical vertebrae from the lower part of the Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning (China). This is the second species of Nurhachius, the type-species being N. ignaciobritoi from the upper part of the Jiufotang Formation. A revised diagnosis of the genus Nurhachius is provided, being this taxon characterized by the presence of a slight dorsal deflection of the palatal anterior tip, which is homoplastic with the Anhangueria and Cimoliopterus. N. luei sp. nov. shows an unusual pattern of tooth replacement, with respect to other pterodactyloid species. The relationships within the Istiodactylidae and with their closest taxa are investigated through a phylogenetic analysis by parsimony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuanyu Zhou
- Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China.,China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China
| | - Rodrigo V Pêgas
- Laboratory of Vertebrate Paleontology and Animal Behavior, Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Maria E C Leal
- Departamento de Geologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.,Zoological Museum (SNM), Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Niels Bonde
- Zoological Museum (SNM), Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Fur Museum (Museum Saling), Fur, Denmark
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