AGNOSPHITYS RESOLVED, THALASSODROMEUS

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

The etymological problem over _Agnosphitys_ vs 
_Agnostiphys_ has now been resolved as the following is 
out...

Fraser, N. C. 2002. Corrigendum. _Palaeontology_ 45, 843.

Fraser states that _Agnosphitys_ is the correct spelling and 
is derived from Greek for unknown (agnostos) and father or 
begetter (phitys).

The same issue includes...

Steyer, J. S. 2002. The first articulated trematosaur 
'amphibian' from the Lower Triassic of Madagascar: 
implications for the phylogeny of the group. 
_Palaeontology_ 45, 771-793.

Moving on to pterosaurs, I am not sure that Kellner and 
Campos are right about _Thalassodromeus_ being a skim-
feeder. There are various reasons for this. There are also 
some problems in distinguishing this taxon from 
_Tupuxuara_ (compare what Kellner and Campos say about 
character states on the palate of _Tupuxuara_ in the 
_Thalassodromeus_ paper with what Kellner has said in 
previous papers) and from other azhdarchoids. Finally, 
some restorations I have seen depict the crest in 
_Thalassodromeus_ the same as it appears on the fossil 
skull. However, exceptionally well-preserved 'tapejarid' 
skulls (several studies now indicate that 'Tapejaridae' is a 
grade of basal azhdarchoids) - including those of _Tapejara 
imperator_ and a new genus - reveal extensive soft-tissue 
extensions to the bony crest, as are in fact now seen widely 
in crested pterosaurs. Thus the leading edge at least of the 
crest in _Thalassodromeus_ may have been continued by 
soft tissue.

Fabio wrote...

> 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. 

Dave Unwin has a major revision of _Cearadactylus_ in 
press: I'd better say no more. For various reasons I and 
various colleagues have wondered if the holotype of _C. 
atrox_ is a composite - it is now clear that this is definitely 
not the case however. 

Darren Naish
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
University of Portsmouth
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