| Prejanopterus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Infraorder: | †Archaeopterodactyloidea |
| Genus: | †Prejanopterus Vidarte & Calvo, 2010 |
| Type species | |
| †Prejanopterus curvirostris Vidarte & Calvo, 2010 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Prejanopterus is anextinctgenus ofpterodactyloidpterosaur from theLower Cretaceous (lowerAptian age) layers of theLeza Formation ofLa Rioja,Spain.[1]
In 1980 a fossil site was discovered nearYacimiento de Fuente Amarga on the western slopes of thePeña Isasa. In 1993 and 1994 ten fossiliferous blocks were recovered, containing numerous disarticulated fossil bones and bone fragments, among them those of a pterosaur.[1]
Thetype speciesPrejanopterus curvirostra was named and described in2010 byCarolina Fuentes Vidarte andManuel Meijide Calvo. The generic name is derived from the village ofPréjano and a Latinised Greekpteron, "wing". Thespecific name is derived fromLatincurvus, "bent", androstrum, "snout", a reference to the distinctive bend to the left which was claimed to be present in all fossils of the snout.[1] A later study indicates that "there is no genuine sideways bend" of the snout, "but a slight dorsal curvature". The same study emended the specific name tocurvirostris as the femininecurvirostra had been incorrect.[2]
Theholotype,F. A. 112, consists of a fragmented snout. Another snout, specimen F. A. 185, is theparatype. Numerous other elements of the skull and thepostcrania have been assigned to the species, mostly from the wing, the pelvis and the hindlimbs. Ahumerus orvertebrae are still lacking. The species represents the best preserved pterosaur known from Spain and the first named from the Early Cretaceous of that country.[1]
The bent snout features twenty pairs of small teeth with an oval cross-section. That the curvature is no preservation artefact, apost mortem distortion, is indicated by the fact that both known snouts show it. Remarkably, all lower jaws found are straight. The wing span was initially estimated at 4.26 metres (14.0 ft);[1] however, later studies indicate that the wing span ofPrejanopterus was probably not much (if ever) in excess of 2 metres (6.6 ft).[2]
Vidarte and Calvo (2010) assignedPrejanopterus toPterodactyloidea. Using thecomparative method they established that no pterodactyloid group has obvious strong affinities to the species.[1] In a later phylogenetic study Pereda-Suberbiolaet al. (2012) recoveredPrejanopterus as apterodactylid, more precisely positioned between the genusPterodactylus and the groupCtenochasmatoidea.[2] Witton (2013) saw the genus as a possiblelonchodectid due to its unusual tooth socket morphology and long, low nature of the jaw.[3]
Cladogram after Pereda-Suberbiolaet al. (2012):[2]
