The flying reptiles from Argentina: an overview

LAURA S. CODORNIÚ; FEDERICO A. GIANECHINI

Contribuciones del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales

Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"

Lugar: Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires; Año: 2016 p. 85 - 95

The records of Argentine pterosaurs have lately increased notably, both in number of localities and temporal range. New findings come from Late Triassic, Middle and Late Jurassic, and Cretaceous levels. The Late Triassic record is the oldest from Gondwana so far, whereas those of the Jurassic complement the scarce record from this period worldwide. New remains represent the largest pterodactyloids from Jurassic and Cretaceous of Argentina. This expansion of the record entailed an increase in taxonomic diversity, including clades previously not represented in the country, and three new species. Moreover, novel anatomical and paleobiological information about widely known species, e.g. Pterodaustro, was recently revealed. We provide here a brief overview of Argentine pterosaurs, including comments about anatomical, phylogenetic and evolutionary aspects. Recent findings show that these animals were much diverse in Argentina and undoubtedly future discoveries will impact on the knowledge of the evolutionary history of these flying reptiles.