SVP 2025 abstracts of interest 5
It’s SVP abstracts season!!
Here is part 5 of 10. A big one today. Many topics.
Figure 1. Ordovician Eriptychius compared to Early Silurian Shenacanthus demonstrates the origin of jaws in that clade.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/eriptychius-arctolepis-shenacanthus588-2.jpg?w=98″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/eriptychius-arctolepis-shenacanthus588-2.jpg?w=335″ class=”size-full wp-image-83952″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/eriptychius-arctolepis-shenacanthus588-2.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Ordovician Eriptychius compared to Early Silurian Shenacanthus demonstrates the origin of jaws in that clade.” width=”584″ height=”1788″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/eriptychius-arctolepis-shenacanthus588-2.jpg?w=584&h=1788 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/eriptychius-arctolepis-shenacanthus588-2.jpg?w=49&h=150 49w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/eriptychius-arctolepis-shenacanthus588-2.jpg?w=98&h=300 98w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/eriptychius-arctolepis-shenacanthus588-2.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Ordovician Eriptychius compared to Early Silurian Shenacanthus demonstrates the origin of jaws in that clade. Early Silurian Lasanius is not related. It represents the transition from conodonts to Birkenia, Cheirolepis, Engraulis (the extant anchovy) and fish in the ancestry of tetrapods.
Building the earliest vertebrate skull – microtomography sheds light on endoskeletal cranial construction in the Ordovician vertebrate Eriptychius americanus.
Dearden et al (p207)
“The anatomy of these early armoured vertebrates remains obscure beyond their outer skeleton of dermal scales and plates, leaving the internal structure of the earliest vertebrate crania largely unknown. The sole known exception is a specimen of Eriptychius americanus, an armoured vertebrate from the Sandbian (458.4–453.0 Ma)”
“we show that this specimen harbours a set of symmetrical paired and midline cartilages, which we interpret as the front of the cranial endoskeleton surrounding the mouth, olfactory bulbs, pineal organ, and orbits.”
“These cartilages are separate from but closely wrapped by the dermal skeleton, suggesting that they filled and framed the head as in osteostracans and galeaspids.”
“These new data show that the tissues making up this endoskeleton, as well as its overall morphology, are unlike those of any other described vertebrate, revealing unexpected tissue composition as well as gross morphology in the earliest vertebrate skulls.”
In the large reptile tree (LRT, 2440 taxa) Orodvician Eriptychius (Fig 1) is a key taxon that nests as a descendant of Ordovician Arandaspis, Galeaspida, Early Cambrian Haikouichthys (basal to sturgeons) and Pteromyzon the extant sea lamprey.
In turn Eriptychius is a descendant of Early Silurian Shenacanthus followed by the clade Chondrichthys + Acanthodii.
Then Acanthodii gave rise to sea robins, coelacanths, gars, bowfins, salmon, and a long list of bony fish (but not all of them, see caption in figure 1).
Figure 2. Vegavis compared to Pseudocrypturus, Anas, Conflicto and Presbyornis.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/presbyornis-conflicto.vegavis588.jpg?w=294″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/presbyornis-conflicto.vegavis588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-91551″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/presbyornis-conflicto.vegavis588.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. Vegavis compared to Pseudocrypturus, Anas, Conflicto and Presbyornis.” width=”584″ height=”596″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/presbyornis-conflicto.vegavis588.jpg?w=584&h=596 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/presbyornis-conflicto.vegavis588.jpg?w=147&h=150 147w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/presbyornis-conflicto.vegavis588.jpg?w=294&h=300 294w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/presbyornis-conflicto.vegavis588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Vegavis compared to Pseudocrypturus, Anas, Conflicto and Presbyornis.
Modern avian polar section modulus plots predict the lifestyle of the latest Cretaceous fossil avians Antarcticavis capelambensis and Vegavis iaai
Dickhut and Case (P208)
“When it comes to shallow marine fossil deposits of Late Cretaceous age, the avian fossils present are few and specific. The avian fossils that are excavated almost exclusively show a foot-propelled diving lifestyle. Lifestyles such as running, soaring, or flapping, are not represented.”
“Latest Cretaceous avian fossils that show a foot-propelled diving lifestyle include Vegavis iaai from Antarctica, Polarornis gregorii from Antarctica, Neogaeornis wetzeli from Chile, and a grebe-like tarsometatarsus from New Jersey.”
In the LRT incompletely known and duck-sized Vegavis (Fig 2) is close to long-legged Pseudocrypturus (Fig 2) extant tinamous, kiwis and woodcocks – not highly derived foot-propelled swimmers, like grebes and ducks. In turn Vegavis is proximally derived from Early Cretaceous Archaeorhynchus, the last common ancestor of crown birds.
Figure 1. The pelvis of Mirischia with color overlays and ilium correctly oriented. Below Mirischia pelvis compared to the CN79 specimen of Compsognathus and Ornitholestes.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/mirischia-pelvis588.jpg?w=177″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/mirischia-pelvis588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-32949″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/mirischia-pelvis588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. The pelvis of Mirischia with color overlays and ilium correctly oriented. Below Mirischia pelvis compared to the CN79 specimen of Compsognathus and Ornitholestes.” width=”584″ height=”992″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/mirischia-pelvis588.jpg?w=584&h=992 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/mirischia-pelvis588.jpg?w=88&h=150 88w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/mirischia-pelvis588.jpg?w=177&h=300 177w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/mirischia-pelvis588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 3. The pelvis of Mirischia with color overlays and ilium correctly oriented. Below Mirischia pelvis compared to the CN79 specimen of Compsognathus and Ornitholestes.
Reassessing the anatomy and affinities of Mirischia asymmetrica (Theropoda, Coelurosauria) from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil
Delcourt et al (p209)
“Mirischia asymmetrica is known from a partially articulated specimen (SMNK 2349) from the Albian (Lower Cretaceous) Romualdo Formation of the Araripe Basin, Brazil A revised phylogenetic analysis incorporating new morphological characters recovers Mirischia as an early-branching ornithomimosaurs.” [sic]
We looked at Mirischia (Fig 3) earlier here.
Ornithomimosaurs are derived from Compsognathus in the LRT.
Figure 1. Wellnhoferia grandis added to the large reptile tree nests at the base of all extant birds, Euornithes, and their extinct relatives, distinct from three other Archaeopteryx specimens. The skull is poorly preserved but these parts, if valid, are preserved in impressions, No sternum or clavicles have been found. Rather the gastralia extend to the coracoids here.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/archaeopteryx_solnhofen3recon.jpg?w=289″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/archaeopteryx_solnhofen3recon.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-20965″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/archaeopteryx_solnhofen3recon.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Wellnhoferia grandis added to the large reptile tree nests at the base of all extant birds, Euornithes, and their extinct relatives, distinct from three other Archaeopteryx specimens. The skull is poorly preserved but these parts, if valid, are preserved in impressions, No sternum or clavicles have been found. Rather the gastralia extend to the coracoids here.” width=”584″ height=”606″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/archaeopteryx_solnhofen3recon.jpg?w=584&h=606 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/archaeopteryx_solnhofen3recon.jpg?w=145&h=150 145w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/archaeopteryx_solnhofen3recon.jpg?w=289&h=300 289w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/archaeopteryx_solnhofen3recon.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 4. Wellnhoferia grandis added to the large reptile tree nests at the base of all extant birds, Euornithes, and their extinct relatives, distinct from three other Archaeopteryx specimens. The skull is poorly preserved but these parts, if valid, are preserved in impressions, No sternum or clavicles have been found. Rather the gastralia extend to the coracoids here.
Flight of early birds—insights from joint Mobility
Demuth et al (p210)
“the mechanisms underlying the emergence of active, flapping flight and the multitude of different flight behaviors exhibited in extant birds remain elusive despite considerable scientific interest over the past century.”
An elongate, locked-down coracoid is the key to flapping in birds (Fig 4), pterosaurs and (substituting the elongate clavicle), in bats. Academics don’t seem to understand this.
“Our results indicate that diverse flight behaviors similar to those evident in extant birds were already present in Cretaceous near-crown birds, which may have been a contributing factor for the survival of crown birds across the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary.”
The LRT indicates the radiation of basal crown birds occurred during the Cretaceous following Archaeorhynhcus, the last common ancestor of crown birds, in the Early Cretaceous.
Figure 11. Eusthenopteron and Osteolepis with skull bones relabeled.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/eusthenopteron588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/eusthenopteron588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-46911″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/eusthenopteron588.jpg” alt=”Figure 11. Eusthenopteron and Osteolepis with skull bones relabeled.” width=”584″ height=”545″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/eusthenopteron588.jpg?w=584&h=545 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/eusthenopteron588.jpg?w=150&h=140 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/eusthenopteron588.jpg?w=300&h=280 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/eusthenopteron588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 5. Eusthenopteron and Osteolepis with skull bones relabeled.
A new Late Devonian sarcopterygian assemblage from the Parting Formation of Central Colorado
Duffy et al (p223)
“Here we report a new, taxonomically rich assemblage of sarcopterygians [Fig 5] from the Late Devonian shallow-marine Parting Formation of Colorado. Fossils and fossiliferous sandstone blocks were surface collected from multiple horizons. Specimens show various degrees of articulation and are generally wellpreserved and abundant.”
Great news! Easier to get to than Ellsmere Island.
Figure 2. Gorgonopsids, therocephalians and cynodonts to scale.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/eotitanosuchus_size_compared588.jpg?w=106″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/eotitanosuchus_size_compared588.jpg?w=363″ class=”size-full wp-image-36495″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/eotitanosuchus_size_compared588.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. Gorgonopsids, therocephalians and cynodonts to scale.” width=”584″ height=”1648″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/eotitanosuchus_size_compared588.jpg?w=584&h=1648 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/eotitanosuchus_size_compared588.jpg?w=53&h=150 53w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/eotitanosuchus_size_compared588.jpg?w=106&h=300 106w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/eotitanosuchus_size_compared588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 6. Gorgonopsids, therocephalians and cynodonts to scale.
The earliest-diverging cynodont? New middle Permian specimen sheds light on the early morphological evolution of eutheriodonts
Duhamel et al (p223)
“Recent fieldwork in the middle Permian deposits of the South African Karoo Basin has yielded several small, unassigned eutheriodont specimens, including a partial skull that exhibits a mixture of therocephalian-like and cynodont-like morphological features.”
Great news! In the LRT those two clades/grades (Fig 6) are closely related to each other.
Figure 1. Lewisuchus, a tiny predecessor to crocs and dinos (including birds).
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/lewisuchus588.jpg?w=272″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/lewisuchus588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-18927″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/lewisuchus588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Lewisuchus, a tiny predecessor to crocs and dinos (including birds).” width=”584″ height=”644″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/lewisuchus588.jpg?w=584&h=644 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/lewisuchus588.jpg?w=136&h=150 136w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/lewisuchus588.jpg?w=272&h=300 272w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/lewisuchus588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 7. Lewisuchus, a tiny predecessor to crocs and dinos (including birds).
New specimens of Lewisuchus admixtus (early Carnian, Argentina) inform about the origin of the dinosaur body plan
Ezcurra et al. (p232)
“The specialized silesaurid anatomy departs from the expected body plan for the common ancestor of dinosaurs (or of the core-ornithischians if silesaurids are members of that clade). The dinosauromorph Lewisuchus admixtus from the lower Carnian rocks of the Chanares Formation of Argentina has been recovered as the earliest diverging silesaurid in most recent phylogenetic analyses.”
In the LRT Lewisuchus (Fig 7) is a basal bipedal crocodilomorph very close to the origin of the clade Dinosauria. Add the too often omitted crocs to current analyses and see how they compare to the LRT. Let us know if Lewisuchus moves over to croc ancestors.
“Here, we report on several new specimens of L. admixtus collected in the Chanares Formation, including an exquisitely preserved, almost complete skull and complete manus and pes.
Their analysis “robustly recovered Lewisuchus as the sister taxon to Dinosauria under both implied weighting parsimony and Bayesian inference.”
Add a few more bipedal crocs and a few bipedal poposaurs, including Turfanosuchus, as in the LRT. Let us know what you get.
“Our study illuminates the origin of the dinosaur body plan and, contrasting with some previous hypotheses, indicates ancestral predatory habits for Dinosauria.”
The LRT did that first. The abstract authors are referring to those who mistakenly nest herbivorous silesaurs basal to dinosaurs.
Warning:
The next abstract goes way off the rails of reality.
Figure 2 updated. Here is the dentary of Lagerpeton to scale with the skull of Tropidosuchus, both proterochampsids in the LRT.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/lagerpeton588.jpg?w=163″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/lagerpeton588.jpg?w=558″ class=”size-full wp-image-93581″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/lagerpeton588.jpg” alt=”Figure 2 updated. Here is the dentary of Lagerpeton to scale with the skull of Tropidosuchus, both proterochampsids in the LRT.” width=”584″ height=”1073″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/lagerpeton588.jpg?w=584&h=1073 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/lagerpeton588.jpg?w=82&h=150 82w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/lagerpeton588.jpg?w=163&h=300 163w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/lagerpeton588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 8 updated. Here is the dentary of Lagerpeton to scale with the skull of Tropidosuchus, both proterochampsids in the LRT.
Pterosaurs show earliest known loss of vertebrate powered flight and deep origin of ‘ornithoscelidan’ anatomy.
Fitch, So and Mann (p238)
“Here, we provide a new phylogenetic dataset and analysis using an iteration of a previously published dinosauromorph matrix. The resulting dataset consists of 162 OTUs and 624 discrete morphological characters. The dataset includes a much larger sample of outgroup archosauriforms and a comprehensive sampling of Triassic and Jurassic panavians, including 39 pterosaur taxa.”
Clade definition: The Ornithoscelida clade includes only the Ornithischia and theropods. The LRT does not recover that clade. Add pertinent taxa to test both hypotheses.
Bitter truth: pterosaurs are lepidosaurs. Lagerpetidae (Fig 8) are proterochampsids. These authors are following academic guidelines and barking up the same wrong tree. Workers: show a little gumption and add competing taxa. Do it at night, in a closet, if you have to snek this past your professors.
“Our results show the most support for a monophyletic Lagerpetidae lying within Pterosauria, representing the earliest known lineage of secondarily flightless vertebrates.
This is bombastic mistake is what can happen with taxon exclusion. Don’t be afraid of overlord professors who tell you to avoid Cosesaurus (Fig 9) and kin, including Triassic pterosaurs(Fig 9). Competing taxa, like Venetoraptor and Ixaalerpeton (Fig 9) are bipedal pterosaurs too large and too different to possibly be pterosaur ancestors or flightless pterosaurs.
Test competing taxa. The origin of pterosaurs has already been established. So has the origin of Lagerpeton, Venetoraptor and, quite separately, the Dinosauria.
Figure 1. Venetoraptor compared to the protorosaur, Ixalerepton, and two fenestrasaurs, Cosesaurus and Bergamodactylus to scale.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venetoraptor_skeleton_hand588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venetoraptor_skeleton_hand588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-81025″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venetoraptor_skeleton_hand588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Venetoraptor compared to the protorosaur, Ixalerepton, and two fenestrasaurs, Cosesaurus and Bergamodactylus to scale.” width=”584″ height=”541″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venetoraptor_skeleton_hand588.jpg?w=584&h=541 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venetoraptor_skeleton_hand588.jpg?w=150&h=139 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venetoraptor_skeleton_hand588.jpg?w=300&h=278 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venetoraptor_skeleton_hand588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 9. Venetoraptor compared to the protorosaur, Ixalerepton, and two fenestrasaurs, Cosesaurus and Bergamodactylus to scale.
Sadly, Fitch, So and Mann showed up to this race to find the origin of pterosaurs two decades too late and misguided by their professors.
“Lagerpetids are recovered as part of a distinct clade with ‘dimorphodont’ and ‘eudimorphodont’ pterosaurs united by the following characters: multicuspid, heterodont teeth, and several details of the endocranial and distal femoral anatomy, among others.”
A little backstory, perhaps for sympathy: Adam Fitch has worked with David Hone on several projects. Sadly this abstract follows a long string of bungled studies largely due to taxon exclusion, with a sprinkling of misinterpretation.
Figure 3. Click to animate. The Vienna specimen of Pterodactylus (wings folded). Animation opens the wings and legs to reveal the true shape of pterosaur wings, stretched between the elbow and wingtip with a short fuselage fillet extending from elbow to mid femur.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/vienna-pterodactylus-721.gif?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/vienna-pterodactylus-721.gif?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-185″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/vienna-pterodactylus-721.gif” alt=”Figure 3. Click to animate. The Vienna specimen of Pterodactylus (wings folded). Animation opens the wings and legs to reveal the true shape of pterosaur wings, stretched between the elbow and wingtip with a short fuselage fillet extending from elbow to mid femur.” width=”584″ height=”358″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/vienna-pterodactylus-721.gif?w=584&h=358 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/vienna-pterodactylus-721.gif?w=150&h=92 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/vienna-pterodactylus-721.gif?w=300&h=184 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/vienna-pterodactylus-721.gif 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 10. The Vienna specimen of Pterodactylus (wings folded). Animation opens the wings and legs to reveal the true shape of pterosaur wings, stretched between the elbow and wingtip with a short fuselage fillet extending from elbow to mid femur.
Aerodynamic impacts of hind limb presence, size, and posture on the pterosaur flight apparatus
Flaunet et al including Unwin D (p240)
“Pterosaurs, an extinct group of flying reptiles that lived between 220 and 66 million years ago during the Mesozoic, were the first vertebrates to evolve active flight.”
Have you noticed? Every pterosaur abstract begins this way. Why? If pterosaur experts believe other paleontologists don’t know what a pterosaur is by now, well… that goes on to explain so much of the bad science (= avoiding the scientific method) they have been practicing for the last 25 years. Abstracts are written for experts, not second-graders
“Prior studies agreed the hind limb was an integral part of the wing apparatus because the main membrane (brachiopatagium) was connected between the distal wing fingertips and the hind limbs, and the cruropatagium between the tail and the hind limbs.”
Not true. Never true. See figure 10. Click here for pterosaur wing evolution.
“This study investigates the impact of hind limb presence and posture on pterosaur flight capabilities. capabilities. This was achieved by using three wing shape models: the narrow wing model (NWM) that excludes the hind limbs; the standard wing model (SWM) that includes the hind limbs with the femur positioned at an angle of 90º to the body; and the extended wing model (EWM) with the femur positioned at 45º from the body.”
The narrow chord wing model (Fig 10), the only model supported by fossil evidence) should also have the femur extending at an angle of 90º to the body, as in lepidosaurs generally, but this can vary during flight. Dimorphodon and kin are exceptions that have a femor head already angled at about 90º, distinct from other pterosaurs. The key here is to align the axis of the acetbular bowl with the axis of the femoral head, as in all tetrapods. There is no need to disrticulate this hip joint by changing their coaxial axes.
“This includes highly maneuverable flight styles among taxa with high inner wing contributions (e.g., Anurognathidae) and soaring flight styles among taxa with high outer wing contributions (e.g., Pteranodontia).”
“Small differences between the SWM and EWM model suggest that the angle at which the hind limbs were positioned during flight had less importance on aspect ratio and wing loading than hind limb inclusion.”
Did they mean ‘hind wing exclusion?” because earlier in this abstract their narrow wing model excluded the hind limb (Fig 10).
Figure 1. Omphalosaurus palate with elements colorized. Note the huge expanded splenials.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/omphalosaurus-palate300.jpg?w=207″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/omphalosaurus-palate300.jpg?w=300″ class=”size-full wp-image-8023″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/omphalosaurus-palate300.jpg” alt=”Omphalosaurus palate with elements colorized.” width=”300″ height=”434″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/omphalosaurus-palate300.jpg 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/omphalosaurus-palate300.jpg?w=104&h=150 104w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/omphalosaurus-palate300.jpg?w=207&h=300 207w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” />
Figure 11. Omphalosaurus palate with elements colorized. Note the huge expanded splenials.
A unique tooth replacement pattern in the enigmatic Middle Triassic marine reptile, Omphalosaurus
Fornari and Fröbisch (p244)
“Out of the several lineages that diversified in this period, one of the most enigmatic is the genus Omphalosaurus,”
In the LRT Omphalosaurus (Fig 11) is a basal enaliosaur, close to Largocephalus. not mentioned in the abstract.
“Omphalosaurus is set apart by its unique dentition, which is one of the most derived in amniotes. The maxilla and dentaries present teeth in a densely packed and irregularly spaced manner, focusing especially along the symphysis.”
No taxa are completely alone, unique, set apart from the others – except when the author fails to mention their closest relative. In this case that omitted relative is Largocephalosaurus.
“Unlike other ichthyosaurs, Omphalosaurus teeth are completely embedded in the matrix of the bone and have a bulbous crown with a button-like shape.”
Omphalosaurus is not an ichthyosaur in the LRT.
“We focus on investigating the unique replacement pattern and function of the teeth in these exceptional reptiles.”
“We hypothesize that, in Omphalosaurus, teeth migrated through the bone tissue toward the occlusal surface, where they were worn down entirely without being shed, often even leading to wear facets on the jaw bones. New teeth likely form within the dental lamina and gradually push older teeth occlusally. Moreover, the bulbous teeth and thick enamel suggest a durophagous feeding strategy, adapted for crushing hard-shelled prey such as ammonoids in open marine environments.”
Good to know those details! Time to add taxa to that analysis.
Figure 1. The post-crania of Hexinlusaurus reveals it to be a small-skull taxon with long running legs.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/hexinlusaurus-overall5881.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/hexinlusaurus-overall5881.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-12407″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/hexinlusaurus-overall5881.jpg” alt=”The post-crania of Hexinlusaurus reveals it to be a small-skull taxon with long running legs.” width=”584″ height=”501″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/hexinlusaurus-overall5881.jpg?w=584&h=501 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/hexinlusaurus-overall5881.jpg?w=150&h=129 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/hexinlusaurus-overall5881.jpg?w=300&h=257 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/hexinlusaurus-overall5881.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 12. The post-crania of Hexinlusaurus reveals it to be a small-skull taxon with long running legs.
A new ornithischian from the Upper Jurassic Shishugou Formation, Xinjiang, China, and a novel analysis of ornithischian phylogeny
Forster et al (p245)
“Our new taxon is placed at the base of Neornithischia along with Hexinlusaurus and Agilisaurus from the temporally equivalent Shaximiao Formation, Sichuan, China. Our new taxon can be distinguished by contact between the postorbital and parietal, lack of a hamular process on the quadrate, an ossified clavicle, and a concave dorsal margin of the prepubic process.”
Hexinlusaurus is shown in figure 12. In the LRT it nests basal to ceratopsia, the most derived ornithischians. Meanwhile Agilisaurus nests in a more basal node, close to the bonehead, Stegoceras.
Figure 6. Bunostegos, Elginia and Meiolania to scale showing the origin of hard shell turtles.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/elginia-evolution_skull588-1.jpg?w=270″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/elginia-evolution_skull588-1.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-55869″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/elginia-evolution_skull588-1.jpg” alt=”Figure 6. Bunostegos, Elginia and Meiolania to scale showing the origin of hard shell turtles.” width=”584″ height=”649″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/elginia-evolution_skull588-1.jpg?w=584&h=649 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/elginia-evolution_skull588-1.jpg?w=135&h=150 135w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/elginia-evolution_skull588-1.jpg?w=270&h=300 270w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/elginia-evolution_skull588-1.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 13. Bunostegos, Elginia and Meiolania to scale showing the origin of hard shell turtles.
Early morphogenesis of the turtle body wall: a new origin model for the turtle carapace based on fossils and embryos
Foster et al (p246)
“Specifically, we considered the hypothesis that the carapacial ridge, a turtle-specific signaling centre that has been experimentally linked to both rib widening and axial arrest, was necessarily present at the base of the turtle stem and whose origin represents the foundational transformation on which the turtle shell was built. The fossil record casts doubt on at least the details of this hypothesis in that the putative earliest stem turtles Eunotosaurus africanus and Pappochelys rosinae possess the uniquely widened ribs of crown turtles but lack their axial arrest.”
After testing all competing taxa, in the LRT two clades of turtles (one shown in figure 13) arise from two small horned pareiasaurs unrelated to Eunotosaurus and Pappochelys. These two taxa are unrelated to each other in the LRT. It’s convergence all the way down. Test more taxa to test the LRT.
First get a valid phylogeny. Then study the component parts.
Figure 5. Origin and evolution of the prepubis in tritosaurs.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/prepubes588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/prepubes588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-49149″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/prepubes588.jpg” alt=”Figure 5. Origin and evolution of the prepubis in tritosaurs.” width=”584″ height=”294″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/prepubes588.jpg?w=584&h=294 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/prepubes588.jpg?w=150&h=76 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/prepubes588.jpg?w=300&h=151 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/prepubes588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 14. Origin and evolution of the prepubis in tritosaurs.
Scramble or stride: pterosaur pelvic disparity suggests locomotor shift occurred gradually and independently of body size
Frigot RA (p250)
“Pterosaur pelves have the potential to inform many debates on their biology but are relatively unstudied.”
Correction: I studied, traced and illustrated every pelvis (Fig 14 examples) among the 268 taxa in the large pterosaur tree (LPT). Those have been online for over a decade.
As you’ll notice, it is common for paleontologists to start their papers and abstracts by magnifying problems that don’t exist. It is also common to overlook data they choose to overlook, or are required to overlook under the direction of their professors. This not the scientific method. Be brave. Do the right thing. Your tuitions are paying their salaries.
“[this] allowed the testing of two long-standing hypotheses in pterosaur paleontology: that locomotion in pterosaurs fundamentally differed between pterodactyloid and non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs, with suggestions that increasing terrestriality in pterodactyloids removed an evolutionary constraint and allowed diversification of that clade; and that the craniocervical and post-cervical skeleton of pterosaurs evolved as two separate modules.”
That ‘constraint’ was the mythological binding of the hind limbs and lateral toes with a medial uropatagium.
Unfortunately for students academics are twenty years behind the amateurs in several aspects of pterosaur morphology and interrelationships. Follow the scientific method. Find out for yourself.
Figure 6. The uropatagium following the left hind limb of Cosesaurus, photographed by Ellenberger (1993).
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ellencosesaurus-urop.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ellencosesaurus-urop.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-5289″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ellencosesaurus-urop.jpg” alt=”The uropatagium following the left hind limb of Cosesaurus” width=”584″ height=”262″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ellencosesaurus-urop.jpg?w=584&h=262 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ellencosesaurus-urop.jpg?w=150&h=67 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ellencosesaurus-urop.jpg?w=300&h=135 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ellencosesaurus-urop.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 15. The uropatagium following the left hind limb of Cosesaurus, photographed by Ellenberger (1993).
Sidenote: Frigot is from Bristol U where David Unwin has encouraged his students to believe in the previously debunked uropatagium extending between the lateral toes of Sordes. Thereafter, in Unwin’s and Hone’s view pterodactyloid-grade taxa split the uropatagia with remainders just behind each hind limb. What they never mention is uropatagia also appear behind the hind limbs of the pre-pterosaurs Sharovipteryx and Cosesaurus (Fig 15). So their Sordes interpretation is a misinterpretation.
“it is concluded that nonpterodactyloid and pterodactyloid pelves do have different shapes, and this may reflect a shift in non-volant locomotor habit from scansorial to terrestrial.”
That difference is not described in this abstract, even though it is the key to the whole abstract. Don’t let this happen to your abstract.
After analysis in the LRT pre-pterosaurs were facultative to obligate terrestrial bipeds. That freed the forelimbs to develop wing membranes (preserved in Cosesaurus). We have Rotodactylus tracks that match Cosesaurus pedes. Bristol professors and students omit these from their research.
Strangely, no mention is made in this pterosaur pelvis abstract of the ptersoaur prepubis (Fig 14), which developed as the caudofemoral muscles became vestiges on an attenuated tail that also became a vestige over the generations.
Likewise the anterior extension of the ilia and the incorporation of more sacrals in pterosaurs and their ancestors were also ignored.
Maybe the university classroom is not the best place to learn about pterosaur pelves.
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/svp-2025-abstracts-of-interest-5/
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