A possible azhdarchid pterosaur from the Crato Formation (Early Cretaceous, Aptian) of northeast Brazil

  • David M. Martill Palaeobiology Research Group, School of Earth, Environmental and Physical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth POI 3QL, United Kingdom
  • Eberhard Frey Staatliches Museum fur Naturkunde, ErbprinzenstraBe 13, D-76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
Keywords: Azhdarchidae, Brazil, Lower Cretaceous, Pterosauria

Abstract

The partially articulated, distal portion of a left wing finger of a pterosaur from the Crato Formation of northeast Brazil has a T:shaped cross-section to the second and third phalanges. This cross-sectional shape is one of several characters diagnostic of the pterodactyloid pterosaur family Azhdarchidae (Unwin &. Lu 1997). Until now, this family of pterosaurs was known exclusively from the Late Cretaceous. The specimen described here may be the first recorded azhdarchid from the southern hemisphere and the earliest recorded member of the family.

Published
1999-01-01
How to Cite
David M. Martill, & Eberhard Frey. (1999). A possible azhdarchid pterosaur from the Crato Formation (Early Cretaceous, Aptian) of northeast Brazil. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 315-318. Retrieved from https://njgjournal.nl/index.php/njg/article/view/12303
Issue
Volume 78 - 1999
Section
Regular paper
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