Dawndraco
Name: Dawndraco
(Dawn dragon).
Phonetic: Dawn-dray-co.
Named By: Alexander Kellner - 2010.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontidae).
Species: D. kanzai (type).
Type: Piscivore.
Size: Uncertain.
Known locations: USA, Kansas - Niobrara
Formation, Smokey Hill Chalk Member.
Time period: Coniacian to Santonian of the
Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skull and
partial post cranial remains.
When
Alexander Kellner found what was thought to be a Pteranodon,
he
realised that morphological differences in the specimen meant that it
was not a match. Kellner then compared it to the next closest
pterosaur
and in the process made the exciting discovery that it was
not an individual of this genus either and he had in fact identified a
new genus of pterosaur. The
key difference between Dawndraco and Pteranodon
is that the snout of
Dawndraco does not taper to a point like it does in Pteranodon.
However
a later study in 2017 (Martin-Silverstone et al) considered the snout
difference to be down to sexual dimorphism. Later, Dawndraco has
been considered to be invalid by many authors, with others tentatively
mentioning it.
Further reading
- Comments on the Pteranodontidae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) with
a description of two new species. - Anais da Academia Brasileira de
Ciências 82(4):1063-1084. - A. W. A. Kellner - 2010.
- Reassesment [sic] of Dawndraco kanzai Kellner,
2010 and reassignment
of the type specimen to Pteranodon sternbergi Harksen, 1966. -
Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology. 3: 47–59. - Elizabeth
Martin-Silverstone, James R.N. Glasier, John H. Acorn, Sydney Mohr
& Philip J. Currie - 2017.
Random favourites
 |
 |
 |