Banguela

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Banguela
Temporal range: Albian
Illustration of the holotype jaw fragment, with cross-section
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Pterosauria
Suborder: †Pterodactyloidea
Clade: †Azhdarchoidea
Genus: †Banguela
Headden & Campos, 2014
Species:
†B. oberlii
Binomial name
†Banguela oberlii
Headden & Campos, 2014
Synonyms

Banguela is a

azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Albian stage) of what is now Brazil. Only one species is known, Banguela oberlii.[1]

Discovery and naming

The Swiss collector Urs Oberli acquired a pterosaur jaw fragment from the Chapada do Araripe. In 2005, this was described by André Jacques Veldmeijer and colleagues, and referred to Thalassodromeus sethi.[2]

In 2014 it was named and described by Jaime Headden and Hebert Bruno Nascimento Campos as a separate genus Banguela, with the type species Banguela oberlii. The generic name is a Brazilian Portuguese word for "toothless one", especially used as an affectionate term for elderly women. The specific name honors Oberli.[1]

The

Santana Formation, dating from the Albian. It consists of the symphysis, fused front end, of the lower jaws.[1]

In 2018, a study placed the specimen in the subfamily

Thalassodrominae, and formally named the species Thalassodromeus oberlii.[3]

Description

dsungaripterid
by Jaime Headden

Banguela has an estimated skull length of about 61 centimeters (2 ft) and wingspan of over 3.7 meters (12 ft). The symphysis, with a preserved length of 273 millimeters (10.7 in), curves upwards and has a relatively short depression at its upper rear end. The front upper edge of the symphysis is sharp. The front bottom edge is sharp too but lacks a true crest. There are no teeth or tooth sockets present in the fragment.[1]

Phylogeny

In 2005, Veldmeijer had already noted similarities to Dsungaripterus, but considered the available data to be insufficient to draw any conclusions from this.[2] In 2014, Headden & Campos placed Banguela in the family Dsungaripteridae, in a basal position. The cladogram of their analysis is shown below:[1]

Azhdarchoidea 
Dsungaripteridae

Banguela oberlii

Dsungaripterus weii

Noripterus complicidens

 
Neoazhdarchia
 

Banguela is unique among dsungaripterid pterosaurs due to a presumed total absence of teeth. Other pterosaur groups, such as

Dollo's Law azhdarchoids should be originally toothless.[1][4] If there was a large number of cases, Banguela suggests how it developed in most of these: the development of horned rhamphothecae in the jawtips, with progressive tooth rarification until they cease to be useful.[1]

It is worth to note that

dsungaripteroids have some of the most specialized teeth of all sauropsids,[5] so Banguela's toothlessness must indicate some degree of divergent specialization. In 2018, a study suggested that Banguela was a species of Thalassodromeus (T. oberlii), and thus it is assigned to the Thalassodrominae, a subfamily within the clade Tapejaridae.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 129306469
    .
  2. ^ a b Veldmeijer, A.J., Signore, M. & Meijer, H.J.M., 2005, "Description of two pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea) mandibles from the lower Cretaceous Santana Formation, Brazil", DEINSEA 11: 67–86
  3. ^ a b Rodrigo V. Pêgas, Fabiana R. Costa & Alexander W. A. Kellner, 2018, "New information on the osteology and a taxonomic revision of the genus Thalassodromeus (Pterodactyloidea, Tapejaridae, Thalassodrominae)", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Article: e1443273
  4. S2CID 84617119
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0691150611
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Banguela&oldid=1205886734"