Samrukia

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Samrukia
Temporal range:
Ma
Illustration of the holotype.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Genus: Samrukia
Naish et al., 2012
Species:
S. nessovi
Binomial name
Samrukia nessovi
Naish et al., 2012
Synonyms

Samrukia is a genus of large

Samruk, a magical bird of Kazakh folklore
.

Classification

The type specimen of Samrukia was at first believed to belong to an

Ornithuromorpha. They interpreted Samrukia as a very large bird (the jawbone is twice as long as that of an ostrich), but noted that it is not known whether Samrukia would have been able to fly (in which case they would have had wingspans of roughly 4 m (13 ft)) or not (in which case they would have been around 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) tall).[1][2]

A subsequent analysis published by

autapomorphies of Samrukia, the unique traits used to set it apart from other birds, are shared with pterosaurs. He also criticized the earlier cladistic analysis for not including pterosaurs, but only birds and other theropod dinosaurs. Buffetaut stated that the species is "clearly a large pterosaur, not a giant bird."[3]

One of the original researchers who described Samrukia, Darren Naish, agreed with Buffetaut's re-assessment. Naish wrote on his Scientific American Web log Tetrapod Zoology: "Working on fragmentary material is dangerous since you can often get things very, very wrong, and I realised within a few days of the paper appearing that Samrukia was no bird. It seemed, in fact, to be a pterosaur."[4]

A subsequent review by Averianov et al. agreed with the reidentification of the specimen as a pterosaur, and suggested it was an Azhdarchid, possibly a synonym of Aralazhdarcho, which is known from the same formation.[5]

References

  1. PMID 21835881
    .
  2. ^ Naish, Darren (August 9, 2011). "Big birds in the Cretaceous of Central Asia: say hello to Samrukia". Tetrapod Zoology. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  3. ^ Naish, Darren (January 5, 2012). "Happy 6th Birthday, Tetrapod Zoology (part II)". Tetrapod Zoology. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  4. PMID 25755624
    .