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NARROW
GeoRef Subject
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fossils
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Chordata
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Vertebrata
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Tetrapoda
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Reptilia
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Diapsida
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Archosauria
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Pterosauria
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Pteranodon (1)
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coprolites (1)
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ichnofossils (1)
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geologic age
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Mesozoic
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Cretaceous (1)
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Jurassic (1)
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Primary terms
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Chordata
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Vertebrata
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Tetrapoda
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Reptilia
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Diapsida
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Archosauria
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Pterosauria
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Pteranodon (1)
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coprolites (1)
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ichnofossils (1)
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Mesozoic
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Cretaceous (1)
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Jurassic (1)
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paleoecology (1)
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sedimentary structures
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coprolites (1)
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New perspectives on pterosaur palaeobiology
Abstract: Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight and occupied the skies of the Mesozoic for 160 million years. They occurred on every continent, evolved their incredible proportions and anatomy into well over 100 species, and included the largest flying animals of all time among their ranks. Pterosaurs are undergoing a long-running scientific renaissance that has seen elevated interest from a new generation of palaeontologists, contributions from scientists working all over the world and major advances in our understanding of their palaeobiology. They have especially benefited from the application of new investigative techniques applied to historical specimens and the discovery of new material, including detailed insights into their fragile skeletons and their soft tissue anatomy. Many aspects of pterosaur science remain controversial, mainly due to the investigative challenges presented by their fragmentary, fragile fossils and notoriously patchy fossil record. With perseverance, these controversies are being resolved and our understanding of flying reptiles is increasing. This volume brings together a diverse set of papers on numerous aspects of the biology of these fascinating reptiles, including discussions of pterosaur ecology, flight, ontogeny, bony and soft tissue anatomy, distribution and evolution, as well as revisions of their taxonomy and relationships.
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 pterosaurs currently have the most substantial palaeoecological records. The food species and consumers of these taxa conform to lifestyle predictions for these groups. Rhamphorhynchus and Pteranodon ate and were eaten by aquatic species, matching expectations of these animals as sea-going, perhaps partly aquatic species. Possible azhdarchid pterosaur foraging traces alongside pterosaur tracks, and evidence that these animals were eaten by dinosaurs and Crocodyliformes, are consistent with hypotheses that azhdarchids foraged and lived in terrestrial settings. Fossil evidence of pterosaur palaeoecology remains rare: researchers are strongly encouraged to put specimens showing details of dietary preferences, foraging strategies or interactions with other animals on record.
Pteranodon and beyond: the history of giant pterosaurs from 1870 onwards
Abstract The immense size of many pterosaurs is now well known to academics and laymen alike, but truly enormous forms with wingspans more than twice those of the largest modern birds were not discovered until 83 years after the first pterosaur fossils were found. These remains were discovered in an expedition to the Cretaceous chalk deposits of Kansas led by O.C. Marsh in 1870: initially revealing animals with 6.6 m wingspans, Marsh eventually found material from animals estimated to span 7.6 m. Marsh's record breaking pterosaur – the largest flying animal known for nearly 80 years – was equalled by a supposed wing bone described by C.A. Arambourg in 1954 , and then surpassed with the discovery of the 10 m span azhdarchid Quetzalcoatlus northropi by D. Lawson in 1972. Subsequent fragmentary azhdarchid discoveries suggest even larger forms: reinterpreting Arambourg's ‘wing bone’ as a cervical vertebra suggests an animal with an 11–13 m wingspan, while the Romanian taxon Hatzegopteryx thambema is a particularly large and robust form with a 12 m wingspan. Giant pterosaur footprints are also known, with the largest footprints recording walking azhdarchids of comparable size to those suggested by body fossils.