Cacibupteryx, new Cuban pterosaur

[bh480@scn.org]

>From Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org

In case this item has not been mentioned yet, the July 
issue of Palaeontology has a new pterosaur:

Gasparini, Z.,  M Fernández, & M. de la Fuente, 2004. A 
New Pterosaur from the Jurassic of Cuba. Palaeontology 47 
(4): 919 --927.
Cacibupteryx caribensis gen. et sp. nov. is a new 
pterosaur of the family Rhamphorhynchidae found in western 
Cuba, in rocks of the Jagua Formation (Middle-Upper 
Oxfordian). The holotype, a skull and part of the left 
wing, is one of the few Jurassic pterosaurs that is well 
preserved in three dimensions. The new taxon shares 
characters with early and late Jurassic pterosaurs, and is 
one of the few late Jurassic taxa from western Laurasia 
and Gondwana. Furthermore, Cacibupteryx joins Nesodactylus 
hesperius Colbert from Cuba, and Sordes pilosus Sharov, 
from Kazakhstan as the most complete pterosaur recorded 
from the Middle-Upper Oxfordian. Cacibupteryx caribensis 
is one of the largest Jurassic pterosaurs known, and its 
skull possesses several distinct characters, including 
relatively broad roof elements (mainly frontal and 
parietal bones), a jugal with a prominent recess, 
occipital table trapezoidal in shape with the maximum 
width between the quadrate bones, and a small fenestra 
located in the posterior part of the pterygoid bones. In 
the Oxfordian, the Caribbean Corridor separated Laurasia 
and western Gondwana. The diversity of the marine 
herpetofauna found in the Jagua Vieja Member (Jagua 
Formation), and of teleostean fish, confirms that the 
corridor was an effective seaway over which flew at least 
Nesodactylus and Cacibupteryx.