[dinosaur] Albadraco, new azhdarchid from Maastrichtian of Transylvania (Romania)

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A new paper:


Albadraco tharmisensis gen. et sp. nov.

Alexandru A. Solomon, Vlad A. Codrea, Márton Venczel & Gerald
Grellet-Tinner (2019)
A new species of large-sized pterosaur from the Maastrichtian of
Transylvania (Romania).
Cretaceous Research Article 104316 (advance online publication)
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1016_j.cretres.2019.104316&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=Rn8rBG8-6suF5Z7q94KXgmVd0ZlVtMW_o63_NKv8m6w&s=8BMHa1E0W1ZZrHjbTECzEaVCHifnvcy2vGE-qp4Eyxc&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.sciencedirect.com_science_article_pii_S0195667119301016&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=Rn8rBG8-6suF5Z7q94KXgmVd0ZlVtMW_o63_NKv8m6w&s=cJxgRMdFQyiRYEBhSe0E89xfCMQTEpnpMGg7GNqQbj0&e= 


Highlights

A new large-sized azhdarchid pterosaur is described.
Although not fully-grown, Albadraco represents a new azhdarchid species.
It is intermediate between giant and medium-sized azhdarchids.
It indicates highly diverse ecosystems from Hațeg Island.

ABSTRACT

The Upper Cretaceous “Hațeg Island” is not only renowned mostly for its
peculiar assemblage of dwarf dinosaurs, but also for its Azhdarchidae
pterosaurs including giant specimens (e.g. Hatzegopteryx thambema) and
medium-sized ones (e.g. Eurazhdarcho langendorfensis), discovered in the
Hațeg and Transylvanian basins of Romania. Here, we report a new species of
azhdarchid pterosaur, Albadraco tharmisensis gen. et sp. nov. The material
refers to two well-preserved "beak" fragments and a cervical vertebra.
These fossils were discovered together in a fossil assemblage in the
Maastrichtian Șard Formation, located in the southwestern area of the
Transylvanian Basin (Alba District, Romania). The association of a
premaxilla and a mandibular symphysis from the same specimen is the first
ever reported in Europe. The fourth cervical exhibits the best
three-dimensional preservation of any azhdarchid mid-cervical vertebra in
Transylvania, as all specimens reported previously are poorly preserved
(e.g. in E. langendorfensis) or incomplete like the specimen from Pui with
a broken condyle. Albadraco tharmisensis represents a new species of a
large–sized azhdarchid from the “Hațeg Island”. Its size fits between that
of E. langendorfensis and H. thambema, hence confirming the co-existence of
medium, large, and giant–sized azhdarchids during the Maastrichtian in
Transylvania. The possibility of Ad. tharmisensis being a young
Hatzegopteryx is also discussed.