Paleontologists discovered and described the new ctenochasmatid pterosaurian mandible from the late Jurassic Portland limestone formations in southern England.
Reconstruction of the life of ctenochasmatid pterosaur Gladocephaloideus jingangshanensis. Image credit: Zhao Chuang.
“In the Upper Jurassic Formation of England, poverty is rare and consists primarily of isolated bones and bone fragments,” said Roy Smith and David Martill, paleontologists at Portsmouth.
“Many records of the late Jurassic Palace in England are merely historical interests, and now contain species named. Nomina Dubeer. ”
“Nevertheless, some materials are diagnostic and some species stand the test of time.”
“Most of the Upper Jurassic palaces in England come from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation in southern England, with events from the Oxford portion of Oxford clay formation in southern and eastern England, and one event from the Kinmeridge Clay Formation in Scotland.”
“In spite of this lack of material, there was a near-complete skull with some of the associated materials. Cuspicephalus scarfi In areas of the Kimmeridgian stage type. ”
The new Pterosaurus specimen is the mandible with at least two, perhaps three teeth.
The fossils date back to the Titonian period, in the late Jurassic period, about 147 million years ago.
It represents the youngest geologically in the UK Jurassic palace.
“The specimen is an isolated mandible that lacks most of the post-Simfisil section of the lam,” the paleontologist said.
“Because of the mandible, which is very thin and compact and elongated, it has been identified as Pterosaurus.”
New specimens found in Portland Limestone Formations in Dorset, southern England.
This represents the first pterocortic material documented, described and proposed from this layer.
“The specimens are likely first discovered when the stones were divided using a standard “feather and wedge” procedure,” the researchers said.
“This caused damage to the central part of the specimen, but the jaw split along its length also damaged the specimen. It appears that the counterpart has not been recovered.”
The lack of diagnostic function prevents introduction to known or new species of fossils, but it can be confidently assigned to the Pterosaur clade Ctenochasmatoidea.
“The ctenochasmatoids are a diverse group of pterosaurs with prominent, most genus, as they are prominent in long, sometimes dorsal curved jaws and elongated, thin teeth,” the scientist said.
“It’s true, one form, South America Pterodaustrois in the longest teeth in terms of the diameter length ratio of the tetrapod. ”
“Basal anthelminthus bacterium” Pterodactylus antiquus and ctenochasmatoid Ardeadactylus longicolumBoth have short conical teeth with wider alveolar spacing than the Titonian period. ”
“The elongated, thin mandible bone and numerous closely spaced alveoli suggest that it is a member of Ctenochasmatidae.”
“The faint central ridge of the occlusal surface between the two grooves converges to the anterior groove, and the lack of a distinct anterior chamber suggests that the specimen is part of the mandibular intermembranes.”
“This is the first documented record of the wing glands from the Portland group in England.”
Survey results It was released this month Proceedings of the Geologists Association.
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Roy E. Smith and David M. Martill. ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Portland Limestone Formation (Late Jurassic, Titonian) in southern England. Proceedings of the Geologists Associationpublished online 20255l doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2025.101100
Source: www.sci.news
