Scleromochlus and the early evolution of Pterosauromorpha.

Autor: Foffa D; Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, UK. d.foffa@nms.ac.uk.; School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. d.foffa@nms.ac.uk.; Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. d.foffa@nms.ac.uk., Dunne EM; School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.; GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Department of Geography and Geosciences, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany., Nesbitt SJ; Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA., Butler RJ; School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK., Fraser NC; Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, UK.; School of GeoSciences, Grant Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK., Brusatte SL; Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, UK.; School of GeoSciences, Grant Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK., Farnsworth A; State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.; School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK., Lunt DJ; School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK., Valdes PJ; School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK., Walsh S; Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, UK.; School of GeoSciences, Grant Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK., Barrett PM; Natural History Museum, London, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Nature [Nature] 2022 Oct; Vol. 610 (7931), pp. 313-318. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Oct 05.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05284-x
Abstrakt: Pterosaurs, the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight, were key components of Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems from their sudden appearance in the Late Triassic until their demise at the end of the Cretaceous 1-6 . However, the origin and early evolution of pterosaurs are poorly understood owing to a substantial stratigraphic and morphological gap between these reptiles and their closest relatives 6 , Lagerpetidae 7 . Scleromochlus taylori, a tiny reptile from the early Late Triassic of Scotland discovered over a century ago, was hypothesized to be a key taxon closely related to pterosaurs 8 , but its poor preservation has limited previous studies and resulted in controversy over its phylogenetic position, with some even doubting its identification as an archosaur 9 . Here we use microcomputed tomographic scans to provide the first accurate whole-skeletal reconstruction and a revised diagnosis of Scleromochlus, revealing new anatomical details that conclusively identify it as a close pterosaur relative 1 within Pterosauromorpha (the lagerpetid + pterosaur clade). Scleromochlus is anatomically more similar to lagerpetids than to pterosaurs and retains numerous features that were probably present in very early diverging members of Avemetatarsalia (bird-line archosaurs). These results support the hypothesis that the first flying reptiles evolved from tiny, probably facultatively bipedal, cursorial ancestors 1 .
(© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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