Caelestiventus
Name:
Caelestiventus
(heavenly wind).
Phonetic: Kay-el-es-te-ven-tus.
Named By: B. B. Britt, F. M. Dalla
Vecchia, D. J. Chure, G. F. Engelmann, M. F. Whiting
& R. D. Scheetz - 2018.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Pterosauria, Dimorphodontia.
Species: C. hanseni (type).
Diet: Uncertain, but predatory.
Size: Skull about 17.8 centimetres long.
Wingspan at least 150 centimetres long.
Known locations: USA, Utah.
Time period: Norian/Rhaetian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Partial skull, mandible
(lower jaw) and wing tip.
A
very fascinating discovery, Caelestiventus has
helped add to our
knowledge of Triassic age pterosaurs
greatly. Most Triassic age
pterosaurs are known from relatively incomplete remains so one with has
skull and jaw material like Caelestiventus is rare
indeed. The
Caelestiventus holotype fossil is also among the
first discovered in
North America, most others at the time of the genus description are
known from Europe with the exception of Arcticodactylus
which was found
in Greenland.
Caelestiventus
is also one of the largest known Triassic pterosaurs, and one that
lived in what would have been a desert environment. This pushes back
the known temporal envelope for some pterosaurs living in desert
environments back a further 65 million years than previously
known. This also helps prove that pterosaurs were diversifying to
adapt to different ecosystems as far back at least the late Triassic,
maybe earlier.
Further reading
- Caelestiventus hanseni
gen. et sp. nov. extends the desert-dwelling pterosaur record
back 65 million years. - Nature Ecology & Evolution.
2
(9): 1386–1392. - B. B. Britt, F. M. Dalla
Vecchia, D. J. Chure, G. F. Engelmann, M. F. Whiting
& R. D. Scheetz - 2018.
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