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Caelestiventus
''Caelestiventus'' ( , meaning "heavenly wind") is a pterosaur genus from the Late Triassic (Norian or Rhaetian) found in western North America. The type species, ''Caelestiventus hanseni'', honors Robin Hansen, the Bureau of Land Management geologist (Bureau of Land Management, BLM), who facilitated access to the excavation site. ''Caelestiventus'' is important because it is the sole example of a desert-dwelling non-pterodactyloid pterosaur and is 65 million years older than other known desert-dwelling pterosaurs. Additionally, it shows that even the earliest pterosaurs were morphologically and ecologically diverse and that the Dimorphodontidae originated in the Triassic period. Discovery ''Caelestiventus'' was recovered from the Saints & Sinners Quarry of northeastern Utah. The site was discovered in 2007 by Dan Chure and George Engelmann while working on the geology and paleontology of the fossilized dunes of the Nugget Sandstone. In 2015 the discovery of ''Caelestiventus'' wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caelestiventus NT
''Caelestiventus'' ( , meaning "heavenly wind") is a pterosaur genus from the Late Triassic (Norian or Rhaetian) found in western North America. The type species, ''Caelestiventus hanseni'', honors Robin Hansen, the Bureau of Land Management geologist (BLM), who facilitated access to the excavation site. ''Caelestiventus'' is important because it is the sole example of a desert-dwelling non- pterodactyloid pterosaur and is 65 million years older than other known desert-dwelling pterosaurs. Additionally, it shows that even the earliest pterosaurs were morphologically and ecologically diverse and that the Dimorphodontidae originated in the Triassic period. Discovery ''Caelestiventus'' was recovered from the Saints & Sinners Quarry of northeastern Utah. The site was discovered in 2007 by Dan Chure and George Engelmann while working on the geology and paleontology of the fossilized dunes of the Nugget Sandstone. In 2015 the discovery of ''Caelestiventus'' was reported in the scientif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dimorphodontidae
Dimorphodontidae (or dimorphodontids) is a group of early "rhamphorhynchoid" pterosaurs named after '' Dimorphodon'', that lived in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic. While fossils that can be definitively referred to the group are rare, dimorphodontids may have had a broad distribution, with fossils known from the UK, the southwest United States, and possibly Antarctica. Dimorphodontidae was named in 1870 by Harry Govier Seeley (as "Dimorphodontae") with ''Dimorphodon'' as the only known member. In 2003, David Unwin defined a clade Dimorphodontidae, as the group consisting of the last common ancestor of ''Dimorphodon macronyx'' and ''Peteinosaurus zambellii'', and all its descendants.Unwin, D. M. 2003. "On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs". In: Buffetaut, E. & Mazin, J.-M. (eds), ''Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs''. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 217: 139-190 However, later studies found that ''Dimorphodon'' may not be closely re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nugget Sandstone
The Nugget Sandstone is a Late Triassic to Early Jurassic geologic formation that outcrops in Colorado, Idaho and Utah, western United States. Fossil theropod tracks have been reported from the formation.Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607. Fossil content Intermediate theropod, sphenosuchian, drepanosaurid and sphenodontian remains are known.B. B. Britt, D. J. Chure, G. F. Engelmann and J. D. Shumway. 2016. Rise of the erg—paleontology and paleoenvironments of the Triassic-Jurassic transition in northeastern Utah. Geology of the Intermountain West 3:1-32 ;Other fossils * '' Rhynchosauroides sp.'' * Lepidosauria indet. Ichnofossils * '' Batrachopus sp.'' * '' Brachychirotherium sp.'' * '' Brasilichnium sp.'' * '' Cochlichnus sp.'' * '' Diplichnites sp.'' * '' Grallator (Eubrontes)'' * '' Gwyneddichnium sp.'' * '' Octopodichnus sp.'' * '' Otozoum sp.'' * '' cf. Paleohelcura sp.'' * '' Pterichnus sp.'' * '' Scoyenia sp.'' * '' Treptichnus sp.'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period of the Mesozoic Era. Both the start and end of the period are marked by major extinction events. The Triassic Period is subdivided into three epochs: Early Triassic, Middle Triassic and Late Triassic. The Triassic began in the wake of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, which left the Earth's biosphere impoverished; it was well into the middle of the Triassic before life recovered its former diversity. Three categories of organisms can be distinguished in the Triassic record: survivors from the extinction event, new groups that flourished briefly, and other new groups that went on to dominate the Mesozoic Era. Reptiles, especially archosaurs, were the chief terrestrial vertebrates during this time. A specialized subgroup of archo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, the equivalent Latin term ''cladus'' (plural ''cladi'') is often used in taxonomical literature. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed monophyletic (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. ''Panthera leo'' (lion) and ''Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus '' Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis should clearly demons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anurognathidae
Anurognathidae is a family (biology), family of small, short-tailed pterosaurs that lived in Europe, Asia, and possibly North America during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Five genera are known: ''Anurognathus'', from the Late Jurassic of Germany; ''Jeholopterus'', from the Middle Jurassic, Middle to Late Jurassic of China; ''Dendrorhynchoides'', from the Middle Jurassic of China; ''Batrachognathus'', from the Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan; and ''Vesperopterylus'', from the Early Cretaceous of China. Bennett (2007) suggested that the holotype of ''Mesadactylus'', Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology, BYU 2024, a synsacrum, belonged to an anurognathid, though this affinity has been questioned by other authors. ''Mesadactylus'' is from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of the United States. Indeterminate anurognathid remains have also been reported from the Middle Jurassic Bakhar Svita of Mongolia and the Early Cretaceous of North Korea. Classification A family A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austriadraco Dallavecchiai
''Austriadraco'' is a genus of pterosaur living during the Late Triassic in the area of present Austria. Its only species—''Austriadraco dallavecchiai''—was previously attributed to ''Eudimorphodon'', and its closest relatives may have been '' Eudimorphodon'' or '' Arcticodactylus''. Discovery In June 1994, near Seefeld in Austrian Tirol, at a 1600 metres high mountain trail to the ''Reither Spitze'', in the vicinity of the ''Reither Joch-Alm'', Bernd Lammerer discovered a pterosaur skeleton. The remains have been secured as five stone plates, removed on several occasions. In 2003, Peter Wellnhofer identified the fossil as a specimen of '' Eudimorphodon'', a cf. ''E. ranzii''. As it was 10 to 25% shorter than the latter's holotype, Wellnhofer considered it a juvenile. The same year Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia doubted the comparability to ''E. ranzii'' and suggested that it represent a separate ''Eudimorphodon'' species. In 2009, Dalla Vecchia concluded that the specimen was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxilla
The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxillary bones are fused at the intermaxillary suture, forming the anterior nasal spine. This is similar to the mandible (lower jaw), which is also a fusion of two mandibular bones at the mandibular symphysis. The mandible is the movable part of the jaw. Structure In humans, the maxilla consists of: * The body of the maxilla * Four processes ** the zygomatic process ** the frontal process of maxilla ** the alveolar process ** the palatine process * three surfaces – anterior, posterior, medial * the Infraorbital foramen * the maxillary sinus * the incisive foramen Articulations Each maxilla articulates with nine bones: * two of the cranium: the frontal and ethmoid * seven of the face: the nasal, zygomatic, lacrimal, inferior n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arcticodactylus Cromptonellus
''Arcticodactylus'' is a genus of basal pterosaur living during the Late Triassic in the area of present Greenland. Its only species was previously attributed to ''Eudimorphodon'', and its closest relatives may have been ''Eudimorphodon'' or ''Austriadraco''. History of discovery In 1989, William Amaral on the McKnight Bjerg in the east of Greenland discovered a rich fossil site. It was excavated in 1991 and 1992. Part of the material was a small skeleton of a pterosaur. In 2001, Farish Jenkins, Neil Shubin, Stephen Gatesy and Kevin Padian named and described it as a new species of ''Eudimorphodon'': ''Eudimorphodon cromptonellus''. The specific name honors Professor Alfred Walter Crompton. The suffix ''~ellus'', in Latin indicating a diminutive, alluded to the small size of the specimen. The holotype, MGUH VP 3393, was found in the Carlsberg Fjord Beds of the Ørsted Dal Member of the Fleming Fjord Formation dating from the Norian – Rhaetian. It consists of a partial skel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preondactylus Buffarinii
''Preondactylus'' is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs from the Late Triassic (late Norian)Barrett, P. M., Butler, R. J., Edwards, N. P., & Milner, A. R. (2008). Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas. ''Zitteliana'', 61-107/ref> that inhabited what is now Italy. It contains a single known species, ''Preondactylus buffarinii'', which was discovered by Nando Buffarini in 1982 at the Forni Dolostone near Udine in the Preone valley of the Italian Alps."Preondactylus." In: Cranfield, Ingrid (ed.). ''The Illustrated Directory of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures''. London: Salamander Books, Ltd. Pp. 284-285. Discovery When Buffarini first discovered ''Preondactylus'', the thin slab of bituminous, dolomitic limestone containing the fossil was accidentally broken into pieces while being extracted. After reassembly the rock was cleaned with water by him and his wife and the marl and in it the bone was washed away and lost. All that was left was a negative imprint on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
