[dinosaur] Targaryendraco, new toothed pterosaur from Early Cretaceous of Germany

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A new paper:


Rodrigo V. Pêgas, Borja Holgado & 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 (advance online  publication)
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1080_08912963.2019.1690482&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=0Pt4atFTV2976gAU-fgUIgyCseHmUg1RIt_Cw4BKl70&s=xfSypFnZTRluZoJDWh4Pjab9wQ6JrbEE2wmIaLIRnrc&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.tandfonline.com_doi_full_10.1080_08912963.2019.1690482&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=0Pt4atFTV2976gAU-fgUIgyCseHmUg1RIt_Cw4BKl70&s=iH3KCuoZHRbJxThzRzqIZt9u-zMwfy8vRwzjHNj6flM&e= 


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.