Yelaphomte
Yelaphomte Temporal range: Late Triassic, late Norian to
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | †Pterosauria |
Family: | †Raeticodactylidae |
Genus: | †Yelaphomte Martínez et al. 2022 |
Species: | †Y. praderioi
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Binomial name | |
†Yelaphomte praderioi Martínez et al. 2022
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Yelaphomte (
Discovery and naming
The
The specimen was discovered at the ‘Quebrada del Puma’ locality of the Quebrada del Barro Formation within the Marayes–El Carrizal Basin of Northwestern Argentina, part of the Caucete Department in the San Juan Province. The 'Quebrada del Puma' locality occurs in the upper layers of the Quebrada del Barro Formation in its southern outcrops, and has been roughly dated to around the late Norian into the Rhaetian based on its faunal assemblages. PVSJ 914 was discovered in a horizon of reddish muddy sandstone 60 m below the top of the formation, beneath the unconformably overlying Cretaceous aged El Gigante Group.[2][3]
The
Description
Yelaphomte is a small pterosaur known by a partial rostrum only 15.4 mm long, preserving parts of its maxillae, premaxillae and palatine bones. The main body of the preserved snout is narrow and roughly triangular in shape tapering towards the unpreserved snout tip. The premaxilla contacts the maxilla along a long, straight suture that runs from the bottom corner of the front of the naris down to the bottom corner of the preserved portion of the snout. This suture is only visible in
The broken snout tip and CT scanning revealed extensive
The cheek teeth are poorly preserved, with only the roots left in the tooth sockets. Like other eopterosaur teeth, they are closely spaced (less than a tooth width apart), evenly distributed, and are positioned vertically without splaying to the side. However, unusually the tooth roots are angled roughly 60° to the jaw margin, suggesting that the cheek teeth were angled forwards (procumbent). This differs from both the straight and upright cheek teeth of other eopterosaurs, as well as the procumbent and splayed teeth of
Classification
To determine the relationships of Yelaphomte to other pterosaurs, Martínez and colleagues performed a
Pterosauria
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An additional analysis using the diapsid reptile data matrix of Ezcurra et al. (2020) was also used to confirm the inclusion of Yelaphomte within pterosaurs more broadly. This analysis found Yelaphomte in essentially the same position as the Andres et al. dataset in a polytomy with Raeticodactylus and Carniadactylus. Although no diagnostic traits of Raeticodactylidae are present in the known material of Yelaphomte, a close relationship to Raeticodactylus is supported by its evenly spaced teeth, as well as similarities such as its crest and the presence of a diastema.[2]
Palaeobiology
The small size of Yelaphomte suggests that the specimen could belong to an immature individual, and consequently the differences between it and the contemporary raeticodactylid Pachagnathus could be due to ontogeny. However, Martínez and colleagues concluded this was unlikely, as the high degree of fusion in its snout may be indicative of its maturity and suggests a small adult size—although they note that the rostrum and mandible bones of pterosaurs do fuse at a young age.[2]
Palaeoecology
Yelaphomte lived in a continental environment a long distance from the nearest coast, and was therefore almost certainly a terrestrial animal, compared to the various coastal Triassic pterosaurs found in the northern hemisphere. This corroborates hypotheses that significant parts of early pterosaur evolution may have taken place in terrestrial settings.[2]
The Quebrada del Barro Formation has also produced remains of the related larger pterosaur Pachagnathus, as well as a diverse range of vertebrate fossils including
See also
References
- ^ Müller R.T., Ezcurra M.D., Garcia M.S., Agnolín F.L., Stocker M.R., Novas F.E., Soares M.B., Kellner A.W.A. & Nesbitt S.J. (2023). ”New reptile shows dinosaurs and pterosaurs evolved among diverse precursors”. Nature 620(7974): p. 589–594. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06359-z
- ^ S2CID 247494547.
- ^ S2CID 131662341.
- PMID 24768054.