Anhanguera (pterosaur)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iAnhanguera Fossil range: Mid Cretaceous
Three-dimensionally preserved skull of Anhanguera santanae
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Order: Pterosauria Suborder: Pterodactyloidea Family: Ornithocheiridae Subfamily: Anhanguerinae Genus: Anhanguera Campos & Kellner, 1985
Species
A. blittersdorffi Campos & Kellner, 1985 (type) A. santanae (Wellnhofer, 1985) A. cuvieri (Bowerbank vide Seeley, 1865) Unwin et al., 2000 A. fittoni (Owen, 1859) Unwin et al., 2000

Anhanguera is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Lower-Cretaceous (Aptian) Santana Formation of Brazil. The discovery of this pterosaur helped to end some of the debates about whether pterosaurs walked on two legs or four. This pterosaur is closely related to Ornithocheirus, and belongs in the family Ornithocheiridae within its own subfamily, Anhanguerinae, which also includes Ludodactylus.

Anhanguera was a fish-eating creature with a wingspan of 4-5 m (13-17 ft). It had a small, round crest on the front of its upper jaw. The creature is named after the Brazilian town of Anhanguera.

There are several recognized species of Anhanguera. A. santanae and A. blittersdorfi are known from several fragmentary remains including skulls from the Santana Formation of Brazil. A. cuvieri and A. fittoni, initially described as belonging to the genus Pterodactylus and then Ornithocheirus, are from a sligthly later period (Albian) from England, while fragments of a Anhanguera species have also been found in Queensland, Australia. The well-known species A. piscator has been redescribed as belonging to the genus Coloborhynchus (Veldmeijer, 2003).

[edit] References

• Campos, D. A., and Kellner, A. W. A. (1985). "Panorama of the Flying Reptiles Study in Brazil and South America (Pterosauria/ Pterodactyloidea/ Anhangueridae)." Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 57(4):141–142 & 453-466
• Campos, D. de A., and Kellner, A. W. (1985). "Un novo exemplar de Anhanguera blittersdorffi (Reptilia, Pterosauria) da formaçao Santana, Cretaceo Inferior do Nordeste do Brasil." In Congresso Brasileiro de Paleontologia, Rio de Janeiro, Resumos, p. 13.