Early Jurassic Melkamter is a new pterosaur based on scraps
Fernandes, Pol and Rauhut 2024
described a new pterosaur from latest Early Jurassic of Patagonia in Argentina, Melkamter (Fig 1). The authors considered it ‘the oldest monofenestratan pterosaur’. It is more likely a misinterpreted dorynathid or a relative of Sordes (Fig 2) given its age and morphology. Contra the original description, the narrow naris is apart from the antorbital fenestra and the orbit is larger than originally scored.
Too little is known of this scrappy specimen to add it to the large pterosaur tree (LPT).
Figure 1. Melkamter in situ. Colors added here to create DGS reconstruction with restoration (above).
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/melkamter.skull588.gif?w=211″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/melkamter.skull588.gif?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-90422″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/melkamter.skull588.gif” alt=”Figure 1. Melkamter in situ. Colors added here to create DGS reconstruction with restoration (above). ” width=”584″ height=”830″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/melkamter.skull588.gif?w=584&h=830 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/melkamter.skull588.gif?w=106&h=150 106w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/melkamter.skull588.gif?w=211&h=300 211w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/melkamter.skull588.gif 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Melkamter MPEF-PV 11530 in situ. Colors added here to create DGS reconstruction with restoration (above), full scale on 72 dpi monitors.
To their credit
the authors added Melkamter to two previously published analyses. In one cladogram Melkamter nested with Sordes, so not a monofenestratan. In the other cladogram Melkamter nested between the dorygnathid, Cacibupteryx and another dorygnathid, Kryptodrakon + Douzhanopterus, a misidentified germanodactylid. So, again, Melkamter is not a monofenestratan = darwinopterid = wukongopterod.
Figure 8. The three Sordes specimens. Scale for right specimen only. Others scaled to matching skull lengths.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sordes-x3-588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sordes-x3-588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-15201″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sordes-x3-588.jpg” alt=”Figure 8. The three Sordes specimens. Scale for right specimen only. Others scaled to matching skull lengths.” width=”584″ height=”254″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sordes-x3-588.jpg?w=584&h=254 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sordes-x3-588.jpg?w=150&h=65 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sordes-x3-588.jpg?w=300&h=131 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sordes-x3-588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. The three Sordes specimens. Scale for right specimen only. Others scaled to matching skull lengths.
According to Fernanes, Pol and Rauhut,
“by the Late Jurassic through the Cretaceous, the majority of these taxa [= Pterosauria] belonged to the clade Monofenestrata (which includes the well-known Pterodactyloidea as its major subclade), typified by their single undivided fenestra anterior to the orbit.”
The LPT does not recover a clade ‘Monofenestra’ nor does it recover a monophyletic ‘Pterodactyloidea’. Rather the pterodactyloid grade appears 5x by convergence.
Try not to create superlative headlines from scrappy taxa. Amateurs will test your assertions and observations.
References
Fernandes AE, Pol D and Rauhut OWM 2024. The oldest monofenestratan pterosaur from the Queso Rallado locality (Cañadón Asfalto Formation, Toarcian) of Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina. Royal Society Open Science online here.
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2024/12/12/early-jurassic-melkamter-is-a-new-pterosaur-based-on-scraps/
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