New anhanguerian pterosaur remains from the Lower Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia

Abstract

The Australian pterosaur assemblage currently consists of specimens recovered only from Cretaceous strata, with most of these referred to the clade Anhangueria. The majority of Australia’s pterosaur remains have been discovered in the Eromanga Basin of Queensland, specifically the upper Albian Toolebuc Formation, upper Albian Mackunda Formation, and Cenomanian–lowermost Turonian Winton Formation. In this paper, we describe two new partial pterosaur femora from the Toolebuc and Winton formations. Despite being incomplete, these specimens can be assigned to Anhangueria. Pairwise comparisons demonstrate differences in the deflection of the femoral head. Moreover, a subtle ridge on the posterior surface of the Toolebuc Formation femur is not visible on the specimen from the Winton Formation. The greater trochanter of the Winton Formation femur also preserves a potential bite mark that is tentatively attributed to a crocodylomorph. These new pterosaur fossils supplement the currently limited understanding of pterosaur diversity from Australia, and attest to the cosmopolitan distribution of anhanguerians during the Early to mid-Cretaceous.

Adele H. Pentland^# [[email protected]], Stephen F. Poropat^# [[email protected]], Matt A. White^† [[email protected]], and Samantha L. Rigby^# [[email protected]], Australian Age of Dinosaurs Natural History Museum, The Jump-Up, Winton, Queensland 4735, Australia; Patricia Vickers-Rich* [[email protected]], Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, John St, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia; Thomas H. Rich [[email protected]], Museums Victoria, PO Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia; David A. Elliott [[email protected]], Australian Age of Dinosaurs Natural History Museum, The Jump-Up, Winton, Queensland 4735, Australia. ^#Also affiliated with: School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology, John St, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia. *School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia. ^†Palaeoscience Research Centre, University of New England, Armidale 2351, New South Wales, Australia.

Key Words:

• Cretaceous
• Gondwana
• Pterosauria
• Pterodactyloidea
• Anhangueria
• Winton Formation
• Toolebuc Formation

Acknowledgements

The Prince family (Westward Ho Station) are thanked for allowing THR, PVR and colleagues to access Slashers Creek Station and use the homestead for accommodation during fieldwork. Tim Ziegler (NMV) facilitated collections access. Staff and volunteers from AOD, the Queensland Museum and University of Queensland participated in the 2004 ‘Elliot’ dig; the Elliott family (Belmont Station) provided vehicles and machinery for the 2002–2005 excavations. Trish Sloan (AOD) provided collections and surface laser scanner access. Eberhard Frey (SMNK), an anonymous reviewer and the Alcheringa Editorial Board contributed insightful comments that greatly improved the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.