By Ashley Strickland, CNN
A discovery made during a police raid has been identified as the most complete fossil of a flying reptile from Brazil. The remains revealed new information about tapejarids, or pterosaurs that soared across the skies during the Early Cretaceous period between 100.5 million and 145 million years ago.
A study on the findings published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE.
These particular pterosaurs are best known for having a giant crest crowning the head. Tapejarids are common within Brazil's fossil record, but most of these are only partial remains.
The newly discovered fossil preserves almost the entire body of the pterosaur, including bits of soft tissue. This species is known as Tupandactylus navigans.
The fossil was located in six squares of limestone slabs that were confiscated during a 2013 police raid of São Paulo's Santos Harbour.
"The Federal Police of Brazil was investigating a fossil trade operation and recovered, in 2013, over 3.000 specimens," said Victor Beccari, study author and vertebrate paleontologist at the University of São Paulo. "Fossils in Brazil are protected by law, as they are part of the geological heritage of the country. Therefore, collecting fossils requires permission, and the trade and private collections of fossils are illegal in Brazil."
Once the slabs were moved to the University of São Paulo, they put the slabs together like a puzzle to figure out the fossil and researchers conducted a CT scan to find the bones inside the stone. Beccari and his colleagues began studying the fossil in 2016.
The discovery marked the first time researchers have studied a nearly complete skeleton, rather than just the skull, of T. navigans. This enabled them to reconstruct how the creature would have appeared and behaved when it was alive.
"The specimen is exceptionally well-preserved, with over 90% of its skeleton and soft-tissue impressions of the head crest and the keratinous beak (a structure similar to that found in birds, named rhamphotheca)," Beccari said.
The skeleton came from the fossil-rich Crato Formation in northeastern Brazil and was dated to about 115 million years ago.
The pterosaur had a long neck and the researchers believe it spent most of its time on the ground foraging for food like seeds and fruits and likely didn't fly for long distances.
"This pterosaur was over 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in wingspan and was 1 meter (3.3 feet) tall (40% of this is accounted for by the head crest)," Beccari said. "With such a tall head crest and a relatively long neck, this animal may have been restricted to short-distance flights."
However, these pterosaurs had the adaptations necessary for powered flight, including a notarium, or the bone that helped brace the chest against the forces created by the movement of its wings. The pterosaur also had a developed muscle anchoring region within its arm bones, according to the researchers.
"The skeleton shows all the adaptations for a powered flight, which the animal may have used to quickly flee predators," Beccari said.
In addition to the large head crest, T. navigans also had some flair in the form of a large crest on its chin, too. More research is needed to understand how this affected the flight of the pterosaur.
"This specimen allows us to understand more about the complete anatomy of this animal and brings insights into its ecology," he added.
Confiscated fossil turns out to be exceptional flying reptile from Brazil
Complete skeleton provides first look at entire body of Tupandactylus navigans
Peer-Reviewed PublicationIMAGE: TUPANDACTYLUS NAVIGANS (ARTIST’S RENDERING) view more
CREDIT: VICTOR BECCARI
A fossil acquired in a police raid has turned out to be one of the best-preserved flying reptiles ever found, according to a study published August 11, 2021 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Victor Beccari of the University of São Paulo and colleagues.
Tapejarids (an Early Cretaceous subgroup of flying reptiles called pterosaurs) are known for their enormous head crests and their abundance in the fossil record of Brazil, but most Brazilian tapejarid fossils preserve only partial remains. In this study, researchers describe an exceptional tapejarid specimen which includes nearly the entire body, mostly intact and even including remnants of soft tissue alongside the bones, making it the most complete tapejarid skeleton ever found in Brazil.
This fossil belongs to a species called Tupandactylus navigans, and it has a dramatic history. It is preserved across six square-cut limestone slabs which were confiscated during a police raid at Santos Harbour in São Paulo. It is now among the collections of the University of São Paulo, where researchers were able to reunite the slabs and examine the entire fossil, even CT-scanning to reveal the bones concealed within the stone. This is the first time that paleontologists have been able to study more than just the skull of this species.
The description suggests this species had a terrestrial foraging lifestyle, due to its long neck and the proportions of its limbs, as well as its large head crest that could negatively influence long-distance flight. However, the specimen possesses all the necessary adaptation for powered flight, such as the presence of a notarium and a developed muscle anchoring region in the arm bones. This specimen also has an unusually large crest on its chin, part of its already impressive skull ornamentation. Precisely how all these factors contributed to the flight performance and lifestyle of these animals will be a subject of future research, among the many other questions that can be answered through study of this exceptional fossil.
The authors add: “We described the most complete tapejarid fossil from Brazil, a partially articulated skeleton of Tupandactylus navigans with soft tissue preservation. This specimen brings new insights into the anatomy of this animal and its constraints for flight, arguing for terrestrial foraging ecology.”
CAPTION
Tupandactylus navigans GP/2E 9266. Photo of specimen (A); 3D model of specimen (B). Abbreviations: atax, atlas-axis complex; cav, caudal vertebrae; cv, cervical vertebrae; d4, digit four; dc, dentary crest; dov, dorsal vertebrae; f, femur; hu, humerus; il, ilium; isc, ischium; ma, manus; mc, metacarpal; naof, nasoantorbital fenestra; not, notarium; p, pubis; pe, pes; pmc, premaxillary crest; pt, pteroid; rad, radius; sac, sacral vertebrae; sc, scapulocoracoid; spmp, supra-premaxilar bony process; st, sternum; tar, tarsals; tf, tibiofibula; ul, ulna. Scale bar = 50 mm.
CREDIT
Victor Beccari
Citation: Beccari V, Pinheiro FL, Nunes I, Anelli LE, Mateus O, Costa FR (2021) Osteology of an exceptionally well-preserved tapejarid skeleton from Brazil: Revealing the anatomy of a curious pterodactyloid clade. PLoS ONE 16(8): e0254789. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254789
Funding: FLP is supported by grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq process numbers 407969/2016-0, 305758/2017-9) and Fundacão de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS process number 16/2551-0000271-1). OM is supported by grants from GeoBioTec-GeoBioSciences, GeoTechnologies and GeoEngineering NOVA [GeoBioCiências, GeoTecnologias e GeoEngenharias], grant UIDB/04035/2020 by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. FRC is supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for support (grant No. 421772/2018-2).
Competing Interests: NO authors have competing interests.
In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0254789
JOURNAL
PLoS ONE
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Observational study
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Animals
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
11-Aug-2021
COI STATEMENT
Competing Interests: NO authors have competing interests.
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