| Dawndraco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Holotype | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Clade: | †Pteranodontoidea |
| Family: | †Pteranodontidae |
| Genus: | †Dawndraco Kellner, 2010 |
| Species: | †D. kanzai |
| Binomial name | |
| †Dawndraco kanzai Kellner, 2010 | |
Dawndraco is a controversialgenus ofpteranodontidpterosaur from theLate Cretaceous ofNorth America. It is likely synonymous with the contemporary pteranodontidGeosternbergia.
Dawndraco was named byAlexander W.A. Kellner in2010. Thetype species isDawndraco kanzai. Thegeneric name combines the Dawn deity of theIroquois with aLatindraco, "dragon". Thespecific name refers to theKanza tribe ofKansas.[1]
Dawndraco is based on theholotype specimenUALVP 24238, a partialskeleton including an almost completeskull and lower jaws. It was recovered in 1974 by Richard C. Fox and Allen Lindoe from rocks of the lower part of theSmoky Hill Chalk Member of theNiobrara Formation inUtica, Kansas. These rocks date to the lateConiacian or earlySantonian stage, about 86 million years ago.
The specimen was earlier referred toPteranodon sternbergi. However, when Kellner in 2010 assigned this latter species to the genusGeosternbergia, he concluded that specimen UALVP 24238 was too different from it to be accounted for by individual variation orsexual dimorphism and therefore named a separate genus. A unique trait is that the snout does not strongly taper anteriorly as withPteranodon, the upper and lower margins running almost parallel instead. Kellner further argued that the provenance of the specimen - from rock units between those of otherPteranodon holotypes - supported his interpretation of morphological differences as being taxonomic in nature, rather than relating to growth or gender.'Dawndraco' was assigned by Kellner to thePteranodontidae.
In a detailed description and discussion of UALVP 24238, Martin-Silverstoneet al. (2017) concluded that 'D. kanzai' was not a distinct genus or species fromPteranodon. They showed that its taxonomic characterisations were suspect or erroneous, and that stratigraphic arguments used to further distinguish 'D. kanzai' from other pteranodontids were questionable when compared to the geologic ranges of other Smoky Hill Chalk species. They concluded that UALVP 24238 is better interpreted as a small (not fullyosteologically mature) individual of the larger size-class (male) ofPteranodon sternbergi.[2] Their interpretation echoes sceptism expressed about the 2010Pteranodon revision from other palaeontologists,[3][4] several of whom have continued to use pre-2010 taxonomies when discussing the Smoky Hill Chalk pteranodonts. In 2014, Andres, Clark, and Xu stated that they would continue to follow the pre-2010 taxonomy of pteranodontids, and referred the new species named by Kellner, includingDawndraco, back to their original classifications following Bennett.[5]
