| Albadraco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Speculative life restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Family: | †Azhdarchidae |
| Genus: | †Albadraco Solomon et al., 2019 |
| Type species | |
| †Albadraco tharmisensis Solomon et al., 2019 | |
Albadraco is agenus ofazhdarchidpterosaur that lived during theMaastrichtian age of theLate Cretaceous period in what is now Romania. Thetype species isAlbadraco tharmisensis. Its remains, consisting of parts of the snout and a neck vertebra, were found in the Șard Formation, near the city ofAlba Iulia inTransylvania. The species was named and described in 2019 by paleontologist Alexandru Solomon and colleagues.
Albadraco is estimated to have had awingspan ranging from 5 to 6 m (16 to 20 ft) based on itsholotype specimen, though adults are speculated to have reached 7 m (23 ft).Albadraco shared its habitat with the much larger pterosaurHatzegopteryx, both of them belonging to theAzhdarchidae.
At the site of Oarda de Jos, near the city ofAlba Iulia inAlba County inTransylvania, Romania, two jaw pieces were found of a large pterosaur. The discovery was reported and illustrated in a dissertation by paleontologist Cătălin Jipa-Murzea in 2012.[1]
In 2019, the type speciesAlbadraco tharmisensis was named and described by paleontologists Alexandru Solomon, Vlad Codrea, Márton Venczel and Gerald Grellet-Tinner. Thegeneric name combines a reference to Alba with theLatindraco, "dragon". Thespecific name refers to a provenance nearTharmis, the ancientDacian name of Alba Iulia.[2]
Theholotype specimen, PSMUBB V651a, b, was found in a layer of theȘard Formation, which dates back to the latestMaastrichtian, about 66 million years ago. It consists of two fused premaxillae of the snout (PSMUBB V651a) and a piece of the symphysis of the lower jaws (PSMUBB V651b). Both parts were assumed to have belonged to a single individual, perhaps a subadult animal. It is the first example from the Cretaceous of Europe of a pterosaur preserving both upper jaw and lower jaw elements.[2]
A second specimen, PSMUBB V652, a fourthcervical (neck) vertebra from the same site, was referred to the species. It too is from a subadult animal and the describing authors considered it possible that it represented the same individual as the holotype.[2]
Based on its holotype,Albadraco is estimated to have had awingspan of around 5 to 6 m (16 to 20 ft), byextrapolation from the jaw pieces. The adult size was estimated at about 6 to 7 m (20 to 23 ft).Albadraco shared its habitat with the much largerHatzegopteryx, and the possibility was considered that its holotype was only a juvenile exemplar of that pterosaur. This was deemed improbable, however, because the holotype bone structure resembled that of subadult animals, not of fast growing young individuals.[2]
The describers ofAlbadraco, Solomon and colleagues, indicated five distinguishing traits. They wereautapomorphies, unique derived characters. They differ from all other known members ofAzhdarchidae, the group to whichAlbadraco belongs. The cutting edges and sides of the beak show a high foramina density. The premaxilla has split-like foramina on the lower and side surfaces but also two rows of foramina on the side. The snout has a triangular cross-section but its top edge is more rounded than with other azhdarchids. The symphysis of the lower jaws has a U-shaped cross-section in front but a V-shaped one at the rear. The fourth neck vertebra has an elongation ratio (horizontal length divided by transverse width) that is shorter than usual, being more comparable to the elongation ratio of the third neck vertebra in other azhdarchids.[2]
In its description in 2019,Albadraco was placed in the Azhdarchidae, based on the method ofcomparative anatomy.[2] A more specific placement was made in a 2021phylogenetic analysis by American paleontologist Brian Andres, where he foundAlbadraco in the smallerclade Azhdarchinae, close to the azhdarchidsAerotitan andMistralazhdarcho.[3] In 2022, a phylogenetic analysis by Argentinian paleontologist Leonardo Ortiz David and colleagues found a different placement forAlbadraco. They recovered it within the Quetzalcoatlinae as the sister taxon ofHatzegopteryx, corroborating their relationship as pterosaurs originating from Transylvania.[4]
Cladogram by Andres (2021).
| Cladogram by Ortiz David and colleagues (2022).
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