The geologically oldest specimen of Pterodactylus: a new exquisitely preserved skeleton from the Upper Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) Plattenkalk deposits of Painten (Bavaria, Germany)

Abstract

Pterodactylus from the uppermost Jurassic of southern Germany represents one of the most iconic pterosaurs, due to its status of being the first member of the Pterosauria to have been described and named. During the early phase of pterosaur research, Pterodactylus was a wastebasket taxon containing dozens of sometimes distantly related assigned species. Decades later, a comprehensive revision of the genus significantly reduced the number of species. To date, only one species remains in the genus, Pterodactylus antiquus, although the referral of several specimens to this taxon and the taxonomic relationships of them is still debated. Thus far, the genus has been only reported from the Upper Jurassic Plattenkalk deposits of Bavaria, and all of these occurrences are Tithonian in age. Here we describe the first record of Pterodactylus from the Torleite Formation near Painten (Bavaria), which represents the first occurrence of the genus from the Kimmeridgian. The specimen is a complete, articulated and exquisitely preserved skeleton of a small-sized individual. Aside from its old geological age, it is a typical representative of the genus, greatly resembling other specimens from younger strata. Certain characters, such as the overall size, skull length, relative orbit size, and phalangeal formula indicate that the specimen from Painten represents a juvenile to young subadult individual, an ontogenetic stage rarely found among Pterodactylus specimens. The find significantly expands the temporal range of the taxon and represents one of the best-preserved specimens of the genus reported so far.

Petrodactyle wellnhoferi gen. et sp. nov.: A new and large ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of Germany

“…Pterodactylus antiquus Augustin et al, 2022 Torleite Balaenognathus maeuseri Martill et al, 2023 rather short and conical, vertically orientated teeth, which are seen here. Finally, the genera Germanodactylus and Altmuehlopterus have been recovered in various recent analyses as both ctenochasmatids and as basal dsungaripterids (as well as in other clades e.g., Martill, 2018 andYu et al, 2023) and the exact placement of these remains uncertain.…”

“…Despite this extended period of interest, the taxa from this region continue to undergo taxonomic revisions (e.g., Bennett, 1995Bennett, , 1996Bennett, , 2013aJouve, 2004;Vidovic and Martill, 2018). Furthermore, unappreciated specimens continue to be described from existing collections (e.g., Vullo et al, 2012;Hone et al, 2013), and some of these have been reinterpreted as new taxa (Vidovic and Martill, 2014), as well as the discovery of newly recovered material which can include new taxa (e.g., Frey et al, 2011;Hone et al, 2012a;Augustin et al, 2022;Martill et al, 2023).…”

A new specimen of Solnhofia parsonsi from the Upper Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) Plattenkalk deposits of Painten (Bavaria, Germany) and comments on the relationship between limb taphonomy and habitat ecology in fossil turtles

“…Among the latter, fishes are by far the most common group, being represented by actinopterygians, chondrichthyans, and coelacanths [ 7 ]. Fossil reptiles are comparatively abundant and include rhynchocephalians, ichthyosaurs, turtles, the thalattosuchians Cricosaurus albersdoerferi and Dakosaurus sp., atoposaurid neosuchians, Pterodactylus antiquus and other pterosaurs, and the theropod dinosaur Sciurumimus albersdoerferi [ 7 – 11 , 26 , 27 ]. Most of these specimens, however, have not been described in detail yet and several probably represent new taxa.…”