A exceptional new genus and species of gnathosaurine pterosaur being named Garudapterus buffetauti has been recognized from a fossilized higher jaw present in jap Thailand.
Garudapterus buffetauti. Picture credit score: DinoThaiThai / Manitkoon et al. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106135.
“Pterosauria is an order of extinct flying reptiles that when lived amongst dinosaurs within the Mesozoic time, with a fossil document spanning from the Late Triassic to the top of the Cretaceous,” stated Shihezi College paleontologist Xuanyu Zhou and colleagues.
“Historically, there have been two main teams of pterosaurs.”
“The primary contains early branching members, which usually possess lengthy tails and prolonged fifth toes (historically often called the paraphyletic suborder Rhamphorhynchoidea, now abolished).”
“The second is Pterodactyloidea, the bigger group with extremely decreased tails, comparatively lengthy metacarpals, and quick or absent fifth toes.”
Garudapterus buffetauti belongs to Gnathosaurinae, a subfamily of pterosaurs throughout the Pterodactyloidea group.
The brand new species lived in what’s now Thailand through the Early Cretaceous epoch, aprpoximately 130 million years in the past.
The flying reptile’s fossilized stays have been discovered on the Phra Prong locality within the southern area of the Phanom Dong Rak mountain vary in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province.
The holotype of Garudapterus buffetauti — the primary pterosaur cranial materials in Thailand — consists of a partial rostrum and 5 incomplete enamel from a single particular person.
“The anterior tip of the podium is dorsoventrally flattened and laterally expanded (spoon-shaped), indicating affinities to the Gnathosaurinae,” the paleontologists stated.
“Alveoli borders are conspicuously scalloped and collar-like, and the palatal floor displays a pair of sinusoidal grooves.”
“These options bear a powerful resemblance to the Late Jurassic gnathosaurines Gnathosaurus subulatus, Tacuadactylus luciae, and Lusognathus almadrava.”
The group’s phylogenetic evaluation signifies that Garudapterus buffetauti is intently associated to those gnathosaurines.
“Nonetheless, the Thai gnathosaurine is exclusive in exhibiting a kite-shaped rostrum growth and is acknowledged as a brand new species,” the researchers stated.
“This new specimen gives important data relating to pterosaurs, together with up to date knowledge for a greater understanding of their range and distribution all through Southeast Asia.”
The group’s paper was revealed this month within the journal Cretaceous Analysis.
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Sita Manitkoon et al. First gnathosaurine (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from the Early Cretaceous of jap Thailand. Cretaceous Analysis, revealed on-line March 28, 2025; doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106135
