A genus and species of gnathosaurine pterosaur that lived during the Jurassic period has been identified from fossils found in Portugal.
Lusognathus almadrava lived in what is now Europe approximately 149 million years ago (Late Jurassic epoch).
The flying reptile belonged to Gnathosaurinae, a small subgroup of pterosaurs within the family Ctenochasmatidae.
“The known global distribution and diversity of pterosaurs reinforces their success as a group, as they are found in all continents including Antarctica, and yet their relatively sparse fossil record and often incomplete preservation can pose a challenge for further understanding their paleobiology, when compared with other vertebrates,” said Dr. Octávio Mateus, a researcher at the Museu da Lourinhã and the GEOBIOTEC at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and his colleagues.
“Accordingly, the Jurassic of Portugal is a very productive and taxonomically diverse period concerning vertebrate fossils, especially for plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs, dinosaurs, crocodylomorphs, and mammals.”
“However, despite this abundance, up to now, pterosaur material recovered from this deposit has been restricted to scant and often fragmentary isolated bones and teeth, hindering any confident taxonomic assignments.”
“This is likely due to the physical bone fragility of pterosaurs, making their remains particularly susceptible to deterrent or destructive fossilization factors such as carcass scavenging or later taphonomic duress.”
The fossilized remains of Lusognathus almadrava — an incomplete rostrum and associated partial vertebrae — were found in November 2018 in the Lourinhã Formation at Praia do Caniçal, the municipality of Lourinhã, central west Portugal.
The new species is one of the largest Jurassic pterosaurs known, the largest known Jurassic gnathosaurine pterosaur, and the first named pterosaur species found within Portugal.
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