New information on the postcranial skeleton of the Thalassodrominae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Tapejaridae)

Abstract

The clade Tapejaridae is composed by pterosaurs commonly found in fossiliferous deposits in northeastern Brazil. It is constituted by two less inclusive clades: the smaller-bodied Tapejarinae and the larger Thalassodrominae. Here we describe the specimen MN 6566-V, from the Lower Cretaceous Romualdo Formation of the Araripe Basin, Brazil. The specimen is overall well preserved tridimensionally, and consists of three posterior cervical vertebrae, incomplete right and left scapulocoracoids, and the proximal portion of a right humerus. Comparisons to specimens described in the literature enable its identification as a thalassodromine, whose postcranial material is still poorly known despite the large amount of pterosaurs known from this unit.

Keywords:

• Tapejaridae
• Thalassodrominae
• Romualdo Formation
• Lower Cretaceous
• Araripe Basin

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Luciana Carvalho (Museu Nacional/UFRJ) for the availability of receiving us in the collection. Dr. Leonardo Avilla (UNIRIO) and Dr. Lázaro Laut (UNIRIO) are thanked for hosting RB in their laboratories in Rio de Janeiro. Dr. Bruno Vila Nova and an anonymous reviewer made valuable comments on the manuscript.