| Barbosania | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Clade: | †Ornithocheiriformes |
| Clade: | †Ornithocheirae |
| Clade: | †Targaryendraconia |
| Family: | †Targaryendraconidae |
| Genus: | †Barbosania Elgin & Frey,2011 |
| Type species | |
| †Barbosania gracilirostris Elgin & Frey, 2011 | |
Barbosania is anextinctgenus of crestlesstargaryendraconianpterosaur from theCretaceousRomualdo Formation of theSantana Group of northeasternBrazil, dating to theAptian toAlbian.
Barbosania was named and described byRoss A. Elgin andEberhard Frey in2011 and thetype species isBarbosania gracilirostris. The generic name honours Professor Miguel Barbosa of the PortugueseMuseu de História Natural de Sintra in whose collection thetype specimen is present. Thespecific epithet is derived fromLatinrostrum, "snout", andgracilis, "slender", in reference to the slender form of the anterior skull.[1]
Theholotype,MNHS/00/85, was originally acquired for Barbosa's personal collection, the basis of the newSintra museum, from Brazilian fossil poachers. Its provenance is probably the Serra da Mãozinha,[2] implying anEarly Cretaceous late Albian age, about a hundred million years old. It consists of an almost completeskeleton including theskull, that is partially articulated and uncompressed. The lower legs and most of the neck are missing. The specimen was prepared in the GermanStaatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe. It is probably of a subadult individual, though the closure of the respectivesutures provides somewhat contradictory information, the fusion of some elements indicating it was full-grown.[1]
Several specimens previously referred toBrasileodactylus may instead be individuals ofBarbosania.[1]
Barbosania was a medium-sizedpterodactyloid with a skull length of 392 millimetres. Its body was 209.5 millimetres long. The skull is elongated with a slight upwards bend in the snout. Its lack of a rostral and dentary median sagittal crest allows a distinction from other related pterosaurs. Also a parietal crest on top of the skull is absent. The authors considered it unlikely that this morphology was age-related and rejected the explanation of such traits bysexual dimorphism unless there was specific evidence to prove this. The describers established a singleautapomorphy, unique trait: the possession of thirteen dorsal vertebrae instead of the normal twelve. The first four tooth pairs are extremely long, forming a rosette to catch slippery prey like fish or squids. This rosette is however not laterally expanded, which was reflected in the specific name. There are at least twenty-four teeth in the upper jaw and twenty in the lower jaw for a total of eighty-eight.[1]
Barbosania was assigned to theOrnithocheiroideasensu Unwin and more precisely to theOrnithocheiridae.[1]
In 2019, Pêgaset al. assignedBarbosania to the cladeTargaryendraconia, more specifically to the familyTargaryendraconidae, as shown below:[3]
