Banguela oberlii: a new Dsungaripterid Pterosaur From Cretaceous Brazil

An unusual edentulous pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Romualdo Formation of Brazil

Authors:

Headden et al

Abstract:

Numerous taxa make up the Early Cretaceous fauna of Brazil, including Ornithocheiroidea, Tapejaridae, Thalassodromidae, Chaoyangopteridae and a purported member of Azhdarchidae. Dsungaripteridae has only been tentatively assumed to be present in the form of ‘Santanadactylus’ spixi. New study of NMSG SAO 251093 (a specimen referred to Thalassodromeus sethi) suggests it is a previously unknown species of dsungaripterid, Banguela oberlii, tax. nov., differing from Thalassodromeus and other pterosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil by a unique combination of characters, including an upturned jaw tip, a short dorsal mandibular symphyseal shelf (dmss), and an autapomorphic thin crest placed halfway along the fused mandibular symphysis without a keel along the ventral margin of the jaw. B. oberlii, tax. nov., is referred to Dsungaripteridae based on a dmss no longer than the ventral shelf, U-shaped caudal margin of the ventral shelf and lateral margins of the mandibular symphysis concave in dorsal view. B. oberlii, tax. nov., is the youngest known dsungaripterid, and expands known morphological diversity in the clade as well as the Early Cretaceous pterosaur fauna of South America.