New pterosaur fossils from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT

Pterosaur fossils from Australia are rare. All the specimens that have been described previously are Cretaceous in age, with the majority deriving from the Aptian–Albian shallow marine succession within the Eromanga Basin of western Queensland. The Queensland specimens have tentatively been referred to the pterodactyloid clades Pteranodontidae, Ornithocheiridae, and Archaeopterodactyloidea (cf. Ctenochasmatoidea), each in varying taxonomic guises. Due to their fragmentary nature, more specific referrals of these specimens have not been possible. As such, the overall composition and more precise relationships of Australia's Cretaceous pterosaur fauna have remained enigmatic. Since 1987, a number of new pterosaur specimens have been found in the shallow marine late Albian rocks of the Eromanga Basin of western Queensland. Four of these specimens are described herein: a partial mandible, a metacarpal IV, a wing phalanx, and a humerus. The mandible is assigned to Ornithocheiridae, gen. et sp. indet., whereas the metacarpal and wing phalanx are assigned Ornithocheiridae cf. Anhanguera. The morphology of the humerus suggests that it may belong to a ctenochasmatoid lophocratian. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that Australia's Early Cretaceous pterosaur fauna comprises a mix of taxa already known to occur in Europe and South America in addition to a slightly younger ctenochasmatoid. However, the older specimens may alternatively represent new taxa that combine cranial characteristics of an Ornithocheirus-like taxon or a closely related form, with an Anhanguera-like postcranium. A more precise characterization of Australia's Cretaceous pterosaur fauna cannot be resolved until more complete specimens are found.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the Queensland Museum for the preparation of the specimens described in this paper. For access to Queensland Museum material and loans to The University of Queensland, we are grateful to K. Spring, A. Cook, and S. Hocknull. For discussions on Australian pterosaurs, we also thank R. E. Molnar (Museum of Northern Arizona), D. Unwin (University of Leicester, U.K.), A. Kellner (National Museum Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), F. Angolin, M. Ezcurra, D. Pais (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia,’ Buenos Aires, Argentina), and A. Batholomai (QM). Comments by C. Bennett (Fort Hays State University, Kansas, U.S.A.), A. Kellner, M. Bennett (UQ), G. Walter (UQ), and J. Pandolfi (UQ) also helped improve earlier versions of this paper. We are also grateful to A. Cook (QM) for information relating the geological provenance of Queensland pterosaur material and its collection history, to T. Hurley for the collection and donation of QM F44321, and to D. Pickering and T. Rich for information about pterosaur material in Museum Victoria. This research was funded in part by the Australian Research Council (LP0347332 and LP0776851) and The University of Queensland (to S.W.S.), in association with Isisford Shire Council, Winton Shire Council, Land Rover Australia, the Queensland Museum, and Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Additional funding to S.W.S. was provided by The University of Queensland and Carnegie Museum of Natural History.