Anhanguera piscator

Anhanguera piscator, live reconstruction

• Brazil ( Santana Formation)

Anhanguera piscator is a representative of the extinct pterosaurs from the Santana Formation of Brazil.

The species belongs within the short-tailed pterosaurs ( Pterodactyloidea ) to the group of Anhangueridae ( " Altteufelartige " ) and lived in the Lower Cretaceous ( Aptian ). The pterosaur was found in the closely related genus Coloborhynchus of Kellner & Tomida 2000, but this assignment is not generally accepted.

Origin of the name

The genus name Anhanguera ( ANNEX A - "devil"; nera - " old " ) - "Old Devil " comes from the Tupi language of the same name Indio - people living in the region in the northeast of Brazil, from the origin of the fossil record, and refers to a malignant spirit. The Latin Artepithet piscator means " fisherman ".

Anatomy

From this pterosaur partial skeletons and various bones are known. Anhanguera piscator probably had a wingspan of about four meters and a skull length of about 50 centimeters. So that the head was about twice as long as the trunk. The long, narrow snout had many long sharp teeth. A narrow ridge along the top of snout probably supported the stability of the flight while packing the loot. The foot of A. piscator is among the smallest of all pterosaurs. CT scan of his brain show that the flocculus, the brain area that is used for processing of the transmitted signals from the vestibular system, was greater than that of the birds. Thus, the animal was certainly an agile and swift flyers.

Way of life

It is believed that the nature of malnourished from fishing and - like the related species A. santanae and A. blittersdorffi - four-legged on the floor ( quadruped ) was moving, comparable to today's vampire bats.