Brazilian paleontologists have unearthed a large bone bed with at least 47 individuals of a previously unknown pterosaur, named Caiuajara dobruskii.
This is a reconstruction of three growth stages of Caiuajara dobruskii. Image credit: Maurilio Oliveira / Museu Nacional-UFRJ.
Caiuajara dobruskii lived in what is today southern Brazil between 94 and 72 million years ago, in the Cretaceous period.
This reptile was gregarious, living in colonies, and most likely precocial, being able to fly at a very young age.
The fossil bones of Caiuajara dobruskii were collected from the Goio-Erê Formation in the southern Brazil’s state of Paraná.
They belonged to at least 47 individuals ranging from young to adult, with wing spans from 0.65 to 2.35 m.
Several anatomical features show that Caiuajara dobruskii belongs to Tapejaridae, a clade of toothless pterodactyloid pterosaurs.
According to a paper published in the journal PLoS ONE, Caiuajara dobruskii is the youngest member of Tapejaridae and the southernmost known occurrence of the clade.
Selected cranial material of Caiuajara dobruskii. Image credit: Manzig PC et al.
“Several features of the Caiuajara dobruskii head differ from all other members of this clade, including the presence of a bony expansion projecting inside the large opening in the skull in front of the eyes, and the rounded depressions in the outer surface of the jaw,” the paleontologists explained.
“Younger and older reptiles mainly varied in the size and angle of the bony crest on the top of the head. The crest appeared to change from small and inclined in juveniles, to large and steep in adults.”
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Manzig PC et al. 2014. Discovery of a Rare Pterosaur Bone Bed in a Cretaceous Desert with Insights on Ontogeny and Behavior of Flying Reptiles. PLoS ONE 9 (8): e100005; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100005
