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[dinosaur] Large pterodactyloid wing specimens from Solnhofen of Germany (free pdf)





Ben Creisler
bcreisler@gmail.com

A new paper with free pdf:


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Ross A. Elgin and David W.E. Hone (2020)
A review of two large Jurassic pterodactyloid specimens from the Solnhofen of southern Germany.
Palaeontologia Electronica 23(1):a13
doi: https://doi.org/10.26879/741
https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2020/2976-solnhofen-pterodactyloids

Free pdf:
https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/pdfs/741.pdf


Two incomplete wings recovered independently from the Jurassic limestone of southern Germany are among the largest pterodactyloid fossils known from the region. Biometric observations of the long bones suggest that they may be conspecific and together form one of two distinct skeletal configurations known within "Pterodactylus" grandis. The presence of a potentially novel species is suggested by a unique combination of postcranial characteristics not observed in any other pterosaur specimen. However, a robust method of testing its taxonomic relationship remains elusive owing to the poor representation of large and mature individuals among Jurassic pterodactyloids. While the specimens share several postcranial ratios similar to members of the Ctenochasmatoidea and Dsungaripteroidea, extrapolating bone proportions to greater sizes in named species is of limited value due to a variety of growth strategies employed throughout the Pterodactyloidea.

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Blog:

Big wings in the Solnhofen

https://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/big-wings-in-the-solnhofen/