Mesadactylus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mesadactylus Fossil range: Late Jurassic |
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| Mesadactylus ornithosphyos Jensen and Padian, 1989 |
Mesadactylus ('mesa finger') is an extinct genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado, USA. It is known from associated remains including arms bones, pectoral girdle bones, vertebrae (including cervical and sacral, and femorae.[1] Additional material was described in 2004 (including a partial braincase)[2] and 2006; in the latter publication, the authors suggested that its larger contemporary Kepodactylus could be the same animal, although there are minor differences.[3][4]
[edit] References
- ^ Jensen, J. A., and Padian, K. (1989) Small pterosaurs and dinosaurs from the Uncompahgre fauna (Brushy Basin Member, Morrison Formation: ?Tithonian), late Jurassic, western Colorado. Journal of Paleontology 63:363–374.
- ^ Smith, D.K., Sanders, R.K., and Stadtman, K.L. (2004). New material of Mesadactylus ornithosphyos, a primitive pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Colorado. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24(4):850-856.
- ^ King, L.R., Foster, J.R., and Scheetz, R.D. (2006). New pterosaur specimens from the Morrison Formation and a summary of the Late Jurassic pterosaur record of the Rocky Mountain region. In: Foster, J.R., and Lucas, S.G. (eds.). Paleontology and Geology of the Upper Morrison Formation. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 36:149-161. ISSN 1524-4156.
- ^ Harris, J.D., and Carpenter, K. (1996). A large pterodactyloid from the Morrison Formation (Late Jurassic) of Garden Park, Colorado. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 1996(8):473-484.
[edit] External links
- Mesadactylus in The Pterosaur Database
