Skip Nav Destination
New Perspectives on Pterosaur Palaeobiology
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
New Perspectives on Pterosaur Palaeobiology
CONTAINS OPEN ACCESS
Author(s)
D.W. E. Hone;
D.W. E. Hone
Queen Mary University of London, UK
Search for other works by this author on:
D. M. Martill
D. M. Martill
University of Portsmouth, UK
Search for other works by this author on:
Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s). Published by The Geological Society of London
Gold Open Access: This article is published under the terms of the CC-BY 3.0 license.
The Geological Society of London
Volume
455
ISBN electronic:
9781786203366
ISBN print:
9781786203175
Publication date:
January 01, 2018
Book Chapter
Pterosaurs in Mesozoic food webs: a review of fossil evidence
Author(s)
Mark P. Witton
Mark P. Witton
Palaeobiology Research Group, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Building, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, PO1 3QL, UK
Search for other works by this author on:
-
Published:January 01, 2018
Abstract:
Understanding the ecological roles of pterosaurs is a challenging pursuit, but one aided by a growing body of fossil evidence for their dietary preferences and roles as food sources for other species. Pterosaur foraging behaviour is represented by preserved gut content, stomach regurgitates, coprolites and feeding traces. Pterosaurs being eaten by other species are recorded by tooth marks and teeth embedded in their fossil bones, consumer gut content and regurgitate, and their preservation entangled with predatory animals. This palaeoecological record has improved in recent years, but remains highly selective. The Jurassic rhamphorhynchid Rhamphorhynchus, Cretaceous ornithocheiroid Pteranodon and azhdarchid...
You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Index Terms/Descriptors
- Archosauria
- behavior
- bones
- Chordata
- coprolites
- Cretaceous
- Diapsida
- diet
- faunal studies
- feeding
- food chains
- fossil record
- fossils
- habitat
- ichnofossils
- Jurassic
- Mesozoic
- paleobiology
- paleoecology
- predation
- preservation
- Pteranodon
- Pterosauria
- Reptilia
- taphonomy
- teeth
- Tetrapoda
- trophic analysis
- Vertebrata
- Rhamphorhynchus