RE:Re: Thalassodromeus report

[Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia <fabdalla@tin.it>]

Dear friends,

>>BTW, any news on Thalasoodromeus's relationships with other pterosaurs?
>Tapejara? Tupuxuara? Pteranodon?? The Cretaceous deposits of South America
>are really turning up some really great pterosaurs...

>AFAIK, Tapejara and Tupuxuara are both tapejarids and Thalassodromeus is 
also one of a tapejarid, if the SVP presentation on a skimming pterosaur is 
about this taxon.

The diagnosis of Thalassodromeus says that it is a Tapejarid with a large
cranial crest composed of several cranial bones and extending posteriorly
well behind the occipital region. Its posterior end is characteristically
"V" shaped. The suture between premaxilla and fronto-parietal portion of
the crest is peculiar. The anterior portion of the premaxillae and dentary
have sharp dorsal and ventral edges. The palatines before palatal crest are
decidedly concave. The occipital region is broader than in other tapejarids. 

>>We have here Anhanguera, Pterodaustro, Cearadactylus, Tropeognathus,
>Tapejara & Tupuxuara, and now Thalassodromeus

>Cearadactlyus of Jurassic Park Fame! One cool pterosaur, IMHO.

Actually we have more (see Kellner & Tomida, 1990).
Cearadactylus atrox is absolutely poorly known. Only an incomplete and
unprepared skull, deposited in a private collection in Brazil, is known and
has been described in a short note (in Portuguese) in 1985.
I published a partial skull as Cearadactylus? ligabuei in 1994. Not a lot.
Perhaps Crichton had to choose another genus.

Best,

Fabio