Austriadraco dallavecchiai (Wellnhofer 2001, 2003; Kellner 2015; Dalla Vecchia 2021; BSp 1994 I51) Late Triassic ~210mya ~8 cm snout to vent length was a tiny pterosaur derived from a sister to Eudimorphodon cromptonellus and phylogenetically preceded Changchengopterus and Sordes. Whether it was a juvenile or a tiny adult cannot be determined. Here the orbit was apparently larger and the rostrum shorter, as might be expected if this were a juvenile archosaur, but these are phylogenetic changes because pterosaurs matured isometrically, not allometrically. Kellner (2015) provided the new name, Austriadraco, to this specimen.
The jugal was not deep and it had a straight ventral rim. The mandible had a low mound-like coronoid process. The teeth retained several cusps. The triangular sternal complex was small and unable to accommodate more than two ribs. This shape was retained in Dorygnathus. The pubis was vertically oriented and the actebulum was small and shallow.
Nesbitt and Hone (2010) interpreted a mandibular fenestra in Austriadraco, but did not notice the displaced bone that would have covered it in vivo. Kellner agreed this was a mandible in lateral view with a fenestra. That is wrong, as shown below in comparison to Eudimorphodon, which preserves two mandibles, one in lateral view, one in medial view. Only the medial view has a depression.
Dalla Vecchia (2021) sought to revise Austriadraco, but mistakenly identified the sternal complex as the frontal. The actual frontal was tucked in close to the slender coracoid. |
