Samrukia nessovi, from the Late Cretaceous of Kazakhstan: A large pterosaur, not a giant bird
Abstract
Samrukia nessovi was described as a giant bird on the basis of a pair of mandibular rami from the Late Cretaceous of Kazakhstan. Anatomical comparison shows that the specimen bears no distinctive avian characters, and that its purported autapomorphies, as well as all its other characters, are in fact well-known pterosaurian features. The published phylogenetic analysis placing Samrukia within Aves is flawed because it did not include pterosaurs. Samrukia nessovi is clearly a large pterosaur, not a giant bird.
- Publication:
-
Annales de paléontologie
- Pub Date:
- 2011
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.annpal.2011.10.001
- Bibcode:
- 2011AnPal..97..133B
- Keywords:
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- Samrukia;
- Aves;
- Pterosauria;
- Kazakhstan;
- Late Cretaceous