E & P of Pterosaurs Notes - 2

[david peters <davidrpeters@earthlink.net>]

Giant Azhdarchid Pterosaurs from Transylvania - E. Buffetaut et al.

Ouch. 

I think Buffetaut has the palate of Hatzegopteryx upside down. The large shaft 
with the quadrate head is indeed the large quadrate, not the quadrate with a 
â??missing shaftâ?? and a â??pterygoidâ?? which is how it is identified. The 
forked portion articulates dorsally with the preserved occiput, not anteriorly. 
The remaining process is not the jugual, but the basipterygoid and the 
â??quadratojugalâ?? is simply the suture between them. 

Just goes to show how little anyone knows about the various pterosaur palates. 
It also demonstrates that many if not most pterodactyloids retain paired 
basipterygoids, contrary to some recent cladograms.

Anyone wishing to defend the published interpretation is welcome to do so.

A new reconstruction will probably put a new estimated size of Hatzegopteryx. I 
put a reconstruction of this occiput on my Quetzalcoatlus reconstruction and it 
fills the bill, so it's good information to have. 

David Peters
St. Louis