Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs

Přední strana obálky
Eric Buffetaut, Jean-Michel Mazin
Geological Society of London, 2003 - Počet stran: 347
Pterosaurs were a peculiar group of Mesozoic vertebrates, which acquired the ability to fly in an original way, using a membrane attached to a single finger of the hand. Ever since the first description of a pterosaur skeleton in 1784, these remarkable animals have elicited much discussion and controversy among palaeontologists, and many basic questions about their origin, evolution and biology remain disputed. In the last few years, interest in pterosaurs has been revived by numerous discoveries of new and sometimes remarkably preserved specimens, which have enlarged and changed our picture of this group. The volume begins with descriptions of several new pterosaurs from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous of Europe, North and South America, and Africa. Following this, alternative hypotheses of pterosaur phytogeny and evolution are put forward. Several papers discuss the functional anatomy of pterosaurs and its implications for aerial locomotion. The study of pterosaur footprints provides important new evidence concerning their terrestrial locomotion, and this approach is used in several contributions. A developing aspect of pterosaur research is bone histology, as shown by the final papers in this collection.
 

Obsah

BUFFETAUT E MAZIN JM Evolution and palaeobiology of pterosaurs
15
CARPENTER K UNWIN D CLOWARD K MILES C MILES C A new scaphognathine pterosaur
45
FREY E MARTILL D M BUCHY MC A new species of tapejarid pterosaur with softtissue head
65
BARDET N JOUVE S IAROCHÈNE M BOUYA B AMAGHZAZ M A
79
KELLNER A W A Pterosaur phylogeny and comments on the evolutionary history of the group
105
M On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs
139
myology and function
191
axial pneumaticity
217
FREY E TISCHLINGER H BUCHY MC MARTILL D M New specimens of Pterosauria Reptilia
233
unique
267
MAZIN JM BILLONBRUYAT JP HANTZPERGUE P LAFAURIE G Ichnological evidence
283
G WRIGHT J L Pterosaur swim tracks and other ichnological evidence of behaviour
297
the case study
315
SAYÃO J M Histovariability in bones of two pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the Santana Formation
335
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