![]() An additional complication to these discussions is the likelihood that huge pterosaurs such as Q. northropi being demonstrated as a valid taxon and its relationships with Q. lawsoni differ enough that they cannot be regarded as the same animal, but that the significance of this cannot be ascertained given uncertainty over the relationships of Quetzalcoatlus specimens. also noted that the skull material of Hatzegopteryx and Q. northropi can be distinguished from other pterosaurs (i.e., if it is not a nomen dubium), perhaps Hatzegopteryx should be regarded as a European occurrence of Quetzalcoatlus. northropi type material is of generalized enough morphology to be near identical to that of other giant azhdarchids, such as the overlapping elements of the contemporary Romanian giant azhdarchid Hatzegopteryx. northropi-represent elements which are typically considered undiagnostic to generic or specific level, and that this complicates interpretations of azhdarchid taxonomy. Mark Witton and colleagues (2010) noted that the type species of the genus-the fragmentary wing bones comprising Q. northropi had not been properly described and diagnosed until 2021 and until then the status of the genus Quetzalcoatlus was identified as problematic. lawsoni in 2021, named after the genus' original describer. northropi holotype, and include four partial skulls, though they are much less massive, with an estimated wingspan of 5.5 m (18 ft). The smaller specimens are more complete than the Q. by Alexander Kellner and Langston in 1996, indicating that its status was too uncertain to give it a full new species name. This possible second species from Texas was provisionally referred to as a Quetzalcoatlus sp. Later, when more remains were found, it was realized they could have been a separate species. Īt first it was assumed that the smaller specimens were juvenile or subadult forms of the larger type. The specific name honors John Knudsen Northrop, the founder of Northrop, who drove the development of large tailless flying wing aircraft designs resembling Quetzalcoatlus. The genus name refers to the Aztec feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl. That same year, in a subsequent letter to the same journal, he made the original large specimen, TMM 41450-3, the holotype of a new genus and species, Quetzalcoatlus northropi. Lawson in 1975 announced the find in an article in Science. of the Texas Memorial Museum unearthed three fragmentary skeletons of much smaller individuals. Lawson discovered a second site of the same age, about 40 km (25 mi) from the first, where between 19 he and Professor Wann Langston Jr. The specimen consisted of a partial wing (in pterosaurs composed of the forearms and elongated fourth finger), from an individual later estimated at over 10 m (33 ft) in wingspan. Lawson, then a geology graduate student from the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. The first Quetzalcoatlus fossils were discovered in Texas, United States, from the Maastrichtian Javelina Formation at Big Bend National Park (dated to around 68 million years ago ) in 1971 by Douglas A.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |