Pterosauria Kaup, 1834

O’Sullivan, Michael & Martill, David M., 2018, Pterosauria of the Great Oolite Group (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, England, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 63 (4), pp. 617-644 : 622-623

Clade Pterosauria Kaup, 1834

Non-monofenestratan pterosaur indet.

Fig. 8A .

Material.—MUM STR1244b, left MCIV, Stonesfield, Oxfordshire (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic).

Description. —MUM STR1244b ( Fig. 8 ) is a 20 mm long left MCIV exposed in dorsal view with an enlarged large double condyle. It is preserved in anterior view with an expanded ventral condyle. It is short and broad with a length/ width ratio of approximately 4:1, falling within the typical range of non-monofenestratan pterosaurs ( Wild 1984; Wellnhofer 1991; Martill et al. 2013), and well below the 9:1– 20:1 range seen in monofenestratans such as Darwinopterus Lü, Unwin, Jin, Liu, and Ji, 2010 .

O’Sullivan and Martill 2017). Scaphognathines have thicker skulls, more robust cervical vertebrae, shorter prows, more vertically directed teeth and generally shorter wingspans (Unwin 2005; Witton 2013). Rhamphorhynchidae is the most common pterosaur group in the Bathonian of Britain, making up more than 90% of the assemblage and including at least 3 different species, including a novel Remarks.—More precise identification of MUM STR1244b is difficult as pterosaur metacarpals in anteroposterior views are only infrequently figured and their diagnostic features less well documented than those exposed in dorsal, ventral, cranial, and caudal views. We restrict our identification to Non-Monofenestrata indet.

Figures

Fig. 8. Metacarpi from the Great Oolite Group from Taynton Limestone Formation (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic), Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, UK. A. A non-monofenestratan pterosaur indet. (MUM STR1244b), left MCIV in anteroposterior view. B.?Monofenestrata indet. (NHMUK PV R 28160b), right? MCIV in dorsoventral view.