Maehary

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Maehary
Temporal range:
Ma
Skull reconstruction
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade: Archosauriformes
Clade: Archosauria
Genus: Maehary
Kellner et al., 2022
Species:
M. bonapartei
Binomial name
Maehary bonapartei
Kellner et al., 2022

Maehary (meaning "one who looks to the sky" in Guaraní) is a genus of archosaur from the Late Triassic (Norian) Caturrita Formation of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The genus contains a single species, M. bonapartei, known from a partial skull and fragmentary postcrania.[1]

Discovery and naming

Holotype skull material

The Maehary holotype specimen, CAPPA/UFSM 0300, was discovered between 2002 and 2005 in layers of the Caturrita Formation (Linha São Luiz Site, Candelária Sequence, Santa Maria Supersequence) near Faxinal do Soturno, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The holotype consists of a partial skull, vertebral centra, and a fragmentary scapula. Another specimen, UFRGS-PV-0769-T, was also assigned to the genus, consisting of a left maxilla. The maxilla was originally described in 2010 as belonging to the supposed basal pterosaur Faxinalipterus.[2] However, when Faxinalipterus was reinterpreted as a lagerpetid in 2022, the bone was removed from its hypodigm and reidentified as belonging to Maehary.[1]

In 2022, Kellner et al. described Maehary bonapartei as a new genus and species of pterosauromorph. The generic name, "Maehary" is derived from the Guarani-Kaiowa phrase "Ma’ehary", roughly translating to "who looks to the sky", in reference to the pterosauromorph affinities of the taxon. The specific name, "bonapartei", honors the Argentine paleontologist José F. Bonaparte.[1]

A later analysis has suggested that Maehary may actually represent a

gracilisuchid member of the clade Pseudosuchia, rather than a pterosauromorph.[3]

Classification

Kellner et al. (2022) recovered Maehary as the earliest diverging member of Pterosauromorpha. The results of their phylogenetic analysis are shown below:[1]

Archosauria
Pseudosuchia
Pan-Aves
Aphanosauria
Ornithodira

Dinosauromorpha

Pterosauromorpha

Maehary

Lagerpetidae
Faxinalipterus

Lagerpeton

Ixalerpeton
Kongonaphon

PVSJ883

Dromomeron gregorii

Dromomeron romeri

Dromomeron gigas

Pterosauria

In the 2023 description of the lagerpetid

sister taxon to Gracilisuchus. The authors did not discuss the updated phylogenetic position. The results of their phylogenetic analysis are shown below.[3]

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ J. F. Bonaparte, C. L. Schultz, and M. B. Soares. (2010). Pterosauria from the Late Triassic of southern Brazil. In S. Bandyopadhyay (ed.), New Aspects of Mesozoic Biodiversity, Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences 132:63-71.
  3. ^ .