Life reconstruction of Melkamter pateko. Image credit: Pedro Andrade.
SciNews has a story about an early pterosaur from Argentina. Melkamter pateko lived between 184 and 174 million years ago in what is now Patagonia in Argentina. It is the earliest known member of Monofenestrata, a large clade of pterosaurs consisting of the Darwinoptera, Anurognathidae and Pterodactyloidea. The discovery of Melkamter pateko is reported in a paper in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
According to the researchers, Melkamter pateko marks the earliest worldwide occurrence of a monofenestratan pterosaur, predating the currently oldest member of this clade by at least 8 and probably 10 million years.
The species is also the first and only non-pterodactyloid monofenestratan from the supercontinent Gondwana.
“Melkamter pateko represents the so far most conclusive evidence for the presence of Monofenestrata during the late Early Jurassic, while also contributing to their morphological diversity with the novel traits expressed in this new species,” the scientists concluded.