Bennettazhia

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Bennettazhia
Temporal range:
Ma
↓
[1]
Skeletal diagram of Bennettazhia oregonensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Pterosauria
Suborder: †Pterodactyloidea
Clade: †Tapejaromorpha
Genus: †Bennettazhia
Nesov, 1991
Type species
†Pteranodon oregonensis
Gilmore, 1928
Species
  • †B. oregonensis
    (Gilmore, 1928)
Synonyms

Bennettazhia is a genus of

pteranodontoid pterosaur Pteranodon, Bennettazhia is now thought to have been a different animal. The type and only species
is B. oregonensis.

Discovery and history

In 1928,

Lower Cretaceous (Albian stage) beds of the Hudspeth Formation in Wheeler County, in the state of Oregon, United States, to which the specific epithet refers. Gilmore noted similarities to Nyctosaurus though the specimens were larger.[2]

In 1989, S. Christopher Bennett concluded that the remains might be those of a member of the Azhdarchidae instead of a pteranodontid.[3] In 1991, Russian paleontologist Lev Nesov therefore named a new azhdarchid genus: Bennettazhia. The genus name honors Bennett and combines his name with Persian azhdarha, "dragon", a reference to Azhdarcho, the type genus of the Azhdarchidae.[4] Bennett himself in 1994 changed his opinion and stated that it belonged to the Dsungaripteridae.[5] While Bennett (2018) considered the genus a nomen dubium, some authors have classified this genus as a sister group to the Tapejaridae.[6]

In 2023, the discovery of

seagull rookeries. New remains of this pterosaur are also reported, including two isolated teeth (F127985A and F127910B) and an edentulous (teeth-lacking) section of the lower mandible (F127960).[1]

Description

Bennettazhia was a medium-sized pterosaur with an estimated wingspan of 4 metres (13 ft).

trabeculae, very thin bone layers and struts, forming a light yet strong construction. Habib inferred that such strength would have allowed even very large pterosaurs to launch themselves from the ground using their forelimbs. The same investigation made a better classification possible. The humerus has an elongated deltopectoral crest that is unwarped. Both dsungaripterids and azhdarchoids show this feature, but only the latter group is typified by such a very thin outer bone wall. Habib concluded that Bennettazhia was a member of the Azhdarchoidea, a more encompassing group than the Azhdarchidae.[7]

Classification

The

basalmost member.[8]

 Azhdarchoidea 

Neoazhdarchia

Tapejaromorpha

Bennettazhia oregonensis

Eopteranodon lii

"Sinopterus" gui

Nemicolopterus crypticus

Huaxiapterus jii

Tapejaridae

Sinopterus dongi

Tapejarinae

"

benxiensis

"

corollatus

Tapejarini

Tupandactylus navigans

Tupandactylus imperator

Bakonydraco galaczi

Europejara olcadesorum

Tapejara wellnhoferi

See also

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.18261/let.56.1.3
    .
  2. ^ Gilmore C. W. (1928), "A new Pterosaurian reptile from the marine Cretaceous of Oregon", Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 73, art. 24, 1–5.
  3. ^ Bennett S. C. 1989, "Pathologies of the large pterodactyloid pterosaurs Ornithocheirus and Pteranodon", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 9: 13A.
  4. ^ Nesov, L. A. (1991), "Gigantskiye lyetayushchiye yashchyeryi semyeistva Azhdarchidae. I. Morfologiya, sistematika", Vestnik Leningradskogo Universiteta, Seriya. 7; Geologiya, Geografiya (2), 14–23.
  5. ^ Bennett S. C. (1994), "Taxonomy and systematics of the Late Cretaceous pterosaur Pteranodon (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea)", Occ. Pap. Nat. Hist. Mus. Univ. Kansas 169.
  6. S2CID 245078533
    .
  7. ^ Habib, M. (2007). "Structural characteristics of the humerus of Bennettazhia oregonensis and their implications for specimen diagnosis and azhdarchoid biomechanics", p. 16 in: Flugsaurier: The Wellnhofer pterosaur meeting, Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology, Munich, 1, 16.
  8. PMID 24768054
    .

External links
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