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| Maaradactylus spielbergi Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 108 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ | |
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| Skeletal cast | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Family: | †Anhangueridae |
| Genus: | †Maaradactylus |
| Species: | †M. spielbergi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Maaradactylus spielbergi (Veldmeijer, 2003) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Maaradactylus spielbergi is a pterosaur species from the Albian-age Romualdo Member of the Lower Cretaceous Santana Formation, of Barra do Jardim, Araripe Plateau, Ceará Province, Brazil. M. spielbergi was named after the filmmaker Steven Spielberg, the director of Jurassic Park.
Description
M. spielbergi was a large species originally based on RGM 401 880, a fossil specimen known from a nearly complete skull and parts of the skeleton currently housed in the Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum in the Netherlands.
Like species assigned to the genus Coloborhynchus, M. spielbergi bore large, rounded crests at the ends of expanded upper and lower jaws. However, rather than being robust and box-shaped as in many Coloborhynchus species, the jaw tips were more slender and spoon-shaped, and the crest is thin from top to bottom, both features commonly seen in species typically referred to Anhanguera, a genus in which M. speilbergi is classified by some researchers (as A. spielbergi). As in other ornithocheirids, the size and orientation of the teeth vary considerably along the jawline. In M. spielbergi, the tooth pattern has been described as more similar to that of Tropeognathus robustus than to Anhanguera piscator.
Classification
This species was originally classified in the genus Coloborhynchus due to the flattened upper jaw behind the crest, and a raised maxilla, though the usefulness of those in ornithocheirid classification has been questioned. Because the front half of the skull was poorly preserved, characteristics found there may not be ideal for comparing with similar species to determine genus assignment. Additionally, a flattened snout has been reported to be widespread among similar species, including those referred to Anhanguera. In their description of Coloborhynchus fluviferox, Jacobs et al. (2019) referred spielbergi to Maaradactylus, creating the new combination M. spielbergi.
See also
References
- Veldmeijer, A.J., H.J.M. Meijer, and M. Signore (2006). "Coloborhynchus from the Lower Cretaceous Santana Formation, Brazil (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Anhangueridae); an update." PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, 3(2): 15-29.
- Rodrigues, T. and Kellner, A.W.A. (2008). "Review of the pterodactyloid pterosaur Colobrohynchus." Pp. 219–228 in: Hone, D.W.E. and Buffetaut, E. (eds), Flugsaurier: pterosaur papers in honour of Peter Wellnhofer. Zitteliana B, 28.
- Jacobs, M.L., Martill, D.M., Ibrahim, N., Longrich, N., 2018, "A new species of Coloborhynchus (Pterosauria, Ornithocheiridae) from the mid-Cretaceous of North Africa", Cretaceous Research DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2018.10.018.