Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Sep 18:11:e16048.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.16048. eCollection 2023.

A new gnathosaurine (Pterosauria, Archaeopterodactyloidea) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal

Alexandra E Fernandes  1   2   3 , Victor Beccari  2   3 , Alexander W A Kellner  4 , Octávio Mateus  3   5
Affiliations

A new gnathosaurine (Pterosauria, Archaeopterodactyloidea) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal

Alexandra E Fernandes et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

An incomplete, yet remarkably-sized dentated rostrum and associated partial cervical vertebrae of a pterosaur (ML 2554) were recently discovered from the Late Jurassic (Late Kimmeridgian-Early Tithonian) Lourinhã Formation of Praia do Caniçal, of central west Portugal. This specimen exhibits features such as a spatulated anterior expansion of the rostrum, robust comb-like dentition, and pronounced rims of the tooth alveoli, indicating gnathosaurine affinities. Based on its further unique tooth and dentary morphology, a new genus and species, Lusognathus almadrava gen. et spec. nov., is proposed, making this the first named pterosaur species found within Portugal. The presence of this taxon adds yet another element to the fluvio-deltaic lagoonal environment that has been suggested as representative of the Lourinhã Formation in the Late Jurassic, further contributing to the diversity and distribution of gnathosaurines worldwide.

Keywords: Gnathosaurinae; Jurassic; Portugal; Pterodactyloidea; Pterosauria.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Pterosaur localities of Portugal.
Locality of ML 2554 of Praia do Caniçal (A) and other known pterosaur localities of Portugal (B) (image modified from Mateus, Dinis & Cunha, 2017)
Figure 2
Figure 2. The upper jaw of the holotype (ML 2554) of Lusognathus almadrava gen. et sp. nov. (ML 2554).
(A) Photography of both jaw fragments; (B) CT-scan reconstruction of the jaw in dorsal view, showing minimum possible preserved length, in dorsal view; (C) ventral view; (D) left lateral view; (E) right lateral view; (F) anterior view.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Tooth morphology of Lusognathus almadrava gen. et sp. nov. holotype (ML 2554).
(A) Photography of the best-preserved tooth in labial view; (B) transparent 3D representation of the upper jaw in ventral view, showing the insertion of teeth, with cross-section cuts (C1 and C2) of the best-preserved tooth.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Photographs and virtual three-dimensional renderings of the mid-cervical vertebra of Lusognathus almadrava gen. et sp. nov. holotype (ML 2554).
(A and B) Photograph and 3D rendering in dorsal view; (C and F) photograph and 3D rendering in anterior view; (D and G) photograph and 3D rendering in ventral view; (E and H) photograph and 3D rendering in left lateral view. Abbreviations: cot, cotyle; nc, neural canal; ns, neural spine; pf, pneumatic foramen; prz, prezygapophysis.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Phylogenetic results.
Simplified tree of the Pterodactyloidea, showing the relationship of Lusognathus almadrava gen. et sp. nov., and gnathosaurines, after the data matrix by Andres (2021). Non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs were removed from this figure, and the clade Ornithocheiroidea was simplified, in order to make the figure concise.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Comparison of the ventral rostra of:
(A) Gnathosaurus subulatus Meyer, 1833 (JME-SOS 4580); (B) Lusognathus almadrava n. gen. et sp. (ML 2554), and (C) Plataleorhynchus streptophorodon Howse & Milner, 1995 (BMNH R 11957).
Figure 7
Figure 7. Reconstruction of Lusognathus almadrava and its paleoenvironment by © Jason Brougham.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Andres B. Phylogenetic systematics of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea) Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 2021;41(1):203–217. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2020.1801703. - DOI
    1. Andres B, Clark JM, Xing X. A new rhamphorhynchid pterosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Xinjiang, China, and the phylogenetic relationships of basal pterosaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 2010;30(1):163–187. doi: 10.1080/02724630903409220. - DOI
    1. Andres B, Ji Q. A new pterosaur from the Liaoning Province of China, the phylogeny of the pterodactyloidea, and convergence in their cervical vertebrae. Palaeontology. 2008;51(2):453–469. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00761.x. - DOI
    1. Antunes MT, Mateus O. Dinosaurs of Portugal. Comptes Rendus Palevol. 2003;2(1):77–95. doi: 10.1016/S1631-0683(03)00003-4. - DOI
    1. Antunes MT, Pais J. Notas sobre depositos de Taveiro: estratigrafia, paleontologia, idade, paleoecologia [Notes on the Taveiro deposits: stratigraphy, paleontology, age, paleoecology] Ciências da Terra. 1978;4:108–128.

Publication types