Anurognathus? the SMNS specimen (Bennett 2007) Tithonian, Late Jurassic, ~150 mya, ~5 cm in length was originally considered a second, much smaller specimen of Anurognathus ammoni. The skull was described as having an enormous orbit in the anterior half of the skull, little to no antorbital fenestra, and a broad set of parietals with widely spaced upper temporal fenestra among several other autapomorphies. Unfortunately these interpretations were illusions. No sister taxa have these traits. Nevertheless, this false reconstruction (see below) has been widely accepted. Here the SMNS specimen [SMNS 81928a & b] was derived from a sister to Dendrorhynchoides and phylogenetically preceded the holotype of Anurognathus. The differences are enough to erect a new genus.
Distinct from Dendrorhynchoides, the skull of the SMNS specimen was wider and flatter, but otherwise nearly identical.
The wide torso was also like that of Dendrorhynchoides, but the dorsal ribs were more gracile. The caudals were greatly reduced.
The sternal complex was not quite as wide. The pteroid was smaller. Bennett (2007) determined that manual 4.4 was missing, but it is largely buried. The distal portion reappears at the pelvis and all sister taxa have four long wing phalanges. Pedal digit II is not the longest. The proximal pedal phalanges had more typical proportions than the short ones in Dendrorhynchoides.
Below is a GIF movie that changes every two seconds identifying the various bones on the skull used to create the reconstruction above. Additional data from the fossil were identified by following the universally criticized methods described here. |
