A team of paleontologists Ctenochasmatoid pterosaur Discovered in the Kimmeridg Clay of Oxfordshire in central England, this specimen is one of the largest Jurassic pterosaur fossils, with an estimated wingspan of at least 3 metres (10 ft), and is the first pterodactyl pterosaur described from the Jurassic of Britain.
Partial wingspan profiles of large Jurassic pterosaurs: pterodactyloides (left), including the new fossil (EC K2576), and rhamphorhynchids (right). Image courtesy of Etienne others., doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2024.05.002.
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the Mesozoic era characterized by a flight membrane stretched between their forelimbs and hindlimbs and an extremely elongated fourth digit consisting of four elongated phalanges.
The largest Cretaceous form was Aramburgiana, Hatzegopteryx and QuetzalcoatlusThe combined wingspan reached a length of over 10 metres (33 ft).
However, Triassic and Jurassic forms were considerably smaller, with a typical wingspan of 0.5 to 2 metres (1.6 to 6.5 ft).
There is evidence that some Jurassic species also achieved large wingspans, but these rarely exceeded 3 metres (10 ft).
The new pterosaur fossil was discovered in the Kimmeridge Clay near Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England.
This specimen is a wing bone, broken into three pieces but still well preserved.
The team said the dinosaur belonged to adult Ctenophora, a group of pterosaurs known for their elongated wings, long jaws and thin, bristle-like teeth.
“When the bones were discovered their size was certainly remarkable,” said Professor David Martill, from the University of Portsmouth.
“We performed numerical analysis and came up with a maximum wingspan of 3.75 meters (12.3 feet).”
“This is small for a Cretaceous pterosaur, but absolutely gigantic for a Jurassic one.”
“This fossil is particularly special as it is also one of the first records of this type of Jurassic pterosaur in the UK.”
“This specimen is currently the largest known Jurassic pterosaur in the world, surpassed only by a Swiss specimen, with an estimated wingspan of 5 metres (16.4 feet).”
“AbFab, as the Abingdon pterosaur is nicknamed, shows that pterodactyloides, the advanced pterosaurs that completely dominated the Cretaceous period, achieved astonishingly large sizes shortly after they first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, just as the ancestors of bird-like dinosaurs were beginning to take to the air,” said Dr Dave Unwin from the University of Leicester.
a paper The paper on the survey results is Proceedings of the Association of Geologists.
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James L. Etienne others“Giant” pterodactyloid pterosaur that lived in the Jurassic of Britain. Proceedings of the Association of GeologistsPublished online May 24, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.pgeola.2024.05.002
Source: www.sci.news
