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New toothed flying reptile from Asia: close similarities between early Cretaceous pterosaur faunas from China and Brazil

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Abstract

Despite the great increase in pterosaur diversity in the last decades, particularly due to discoveries made in western Liaoning (China), very little is known regarding pterosaur biogeography. Here, we present the description of a new pterosaur from the Jiufotang Formation that adds significantly to our knowledge of pterosaur distribution and enhances the diversity of cranial anatomy found in those volant creatures. Guidraco venator gen. et sp. nov. has an unusual upward-directed frontal crest and large rostral teeth, some of which surpass the margins of the skull and lower jaw when occluded. The new species is closely related to a rare taxon from the Brazilian Crato Formation, posing an interesting paleobiogeographic problem and supporting the hypothesis that at least some early Cretaceous pterosaur clades, such as the Tapejaridae and the Anhangueridae, might have originated in Asia. The association of the new specimen with coprolites and the cranial morphology suggest that G. venator preyed on fish.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Long Xiang for preparing the specimen, Jie Zhang for the photographs and Eberhard “Dino” Frey (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany) for access to the holotype of L. sibbicki (SMNK PAL 3828). We would also like to express our gratitude to Dr. Zhonghe Zhou and three anonymous reviewers for several suggestions that improved this manuscript. This study was supported by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (40825005) and the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program; 2012CB821903). AWAK acknowledges the Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ nos. E-26/102.779/2008 and E-26/111.273/2010) and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq no. 307276/2009-0) for supporting research in China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing, 100044, China

    Xiaolin Wang, Shunxing Jiang & Xin Cheng

  2. Laboratory of Systematics and Taphonomy of Fossil Vertebrates, Department of Geology and Paleontology, Museu Nacional Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Quinta da Boa Vista s/n, São Cristóvão, 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Alexander W. A. Kellner

  3. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Shunxing Jiang & Xin Cheng

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  1. Xiaolin Wang
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  2. Alexander W. A. Kellner
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Correspondence to Alexander W. A. Kellner.

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Communicated by: Robert Reisz

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Wang, X., Kellner, A.W.A., Jiang, S. et al. New toothed flying reptile from Asia: close similarities between early Cretaceous pterosaur faunas from China and Brazil. Naturwissenschaften 99, 249–257 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-0889-1

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