Late Maastrichtian pterosaurs from North Africa and mass extinction of Pterosauria at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary
2018/03/13 by Nicholas R. Longrich, David M. Martill, Brian Andres · 46 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Ichthyology and Marine Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2001663
openalex publication_date 2018/03/13 · openalex created_date 2018/03/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Abstract
Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight and the largest animals to ever take wing. The pterosaurs persisted for over 150 million years before disappearing at the end of the Cretaceous, but the patterns of and processes driving their extinction remain unclear. Only a single family, Azhdarchidae, is definitively known from the late Maastrichtian, suggesting a gradual decline in diversity in the Late Cretaceous, with the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction eliminating a few late-surviving species. However, this apparent pattern may simply reflect poor sampling of fossils. Here, we describe a diverse pterosaur assemblage from the late Maastrichtian of Morocco that includes not only Azhdarchidae but the youngest known Pteranodontidae and Nyctosauridae. With 3 families and at least 7 species present, the assemblage represents the most diverse known Late Cretaceous pterosaur assemblage and dramatically increases the diversity of Maastrichtian pterosaurs. At least 3 families-Pteranodontidae, Nyctosauridae, and Azhdarchidae-persisted into the late Maastrichtian. Late Maastrichtian pterosaurs show increased niche occupation relative to earlier, Santonian-Campanian faunas and successfully outcompeted birds at large sizes. These patterns suggest an abrupt mass extinction of pterosaurs at the K-Pg boundary.
Citations
Cited by
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- Morphology and taxonomy of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea)
- A taxonomic revision of the Sinopterus complex (Pterosauria, Tapejaridae) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, with the new genus Huaxiadraco
- A new pterodactyloid pterosaur with a unique filter-feeding apparatus from the Late Jurassic of Germany
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- A new species of large-sized pterosaur from the Maastrichtian of Transylvania (Romania)
- Pterosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Angola
- On the validity of the genus Amblydectes Hooley 1914 (Pterodactyloidea, Anhangueridae) and the presence of Tropeognathinae in the Cambridge Greensand
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- Подарок как социокультурная ценность
- Thalassotitan atrox, a giant predatory mosasaurid (Squamata) from the upper Maastrichtian phosphates of Morocco
- Helically arranged cross struts in azhdarchid pterosaur cervical vertebrae and their biomechanical implications
- On the pterosaur Aerotitan sudamericanus (Neuquén Basin, Upper Cretaceous of Argentina), with comments on azhdarchoid phylogeny and jaw anatomy
- An articulated pterosaur wing from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) phosphates of Morocco
- Phylogenetic systematics ofQuetzalcoatlusLawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea:Azhdarchoidea)
- A new species of Coloborhynchus (Pterosauria, Ornithocheiridae) from the mid-Cretaceous of North Africa
- A taxonomic and phylogenetic review of the anhanguerid pterosaur group Coloborhynchinae and the new clade Tropeognathinae
- The geologically youngest remains of an ornithocheirid pterosaur from the late Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) of northeastern Mexico with implications on the paleogeography and extinction of Late Cretaceous ornithocheirids
- Alamodactylus [wikipedia]
- Anhangueridae [wikipedia]
- Beipiaopterus [wikipedia]
- Boreopteridae [wikipedia]
- Boreopterus [wikipedia]
- Cearadactylus [wikipedia]
- Germanodactylus [wikipedia]
- Kryptodrakon [wikipedia]
- Lonchodectes [wikipedia]
- Lonchodectidae [wikipedia]
- Lonchodraco [wikipedia]
- Maastrichtian [wikipedia]
- Muzquizopteryx [wikipedia]
- Normannognathus [wikipedia]
- Nyctosaurus [wikipedia]
- Ornithocheiromorpha [wikipedia]
- Phosphatodraco [wikipedia]
- Piksi [wikipedia]
- Pteranodontia [wikipedia]
- Pterodactylus [wikipedia]
- Pterodaustro [wikipedia]
- Pterosaur [wikipedia]
- Quetzalcoatlus [wikipedia]
- Siroccopteryx [wikipedia]
- Thalassodromidae [wikipedia]
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