@article{fcf08691f7574fa7b6d84b794661149c,
title = "A skeleton from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland illuminates an earlier origin of large pterosaurs",
abstract = "Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve flight1,2 and include the largest flying animals in Earth history.3,4 While some of the last-surviving species were the size of airplanes, pterosaurs were long thought to be restricted to small body sizes (wingspans ca. <1.8–1.6 m) from their Triassic origins through the Jurassic, before increasing in size when derived long-skulled and short-tailed pterodactyloids lived alongside a diversity of birds in the Cretaceous.5 We report a new spectacularly preserved three-dimensional skeleton from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland, which we assign to a new genus and species: Dearc sgiathanach gen. et sp. nov. Its wingspan is estimated at >2.5 m, and bone histology shows it was a juvenile-subadult still actively growing when it died, making it the largest known Jurassic pterosaur represented by a well-preserved skeleton. A review of fragmentary specimens from the Middle Jurassic of England demonstrates that a diversity of pterosaurs was capable of reaching larger sizes at this time but have hitherto been concealed by a poor fossil record. Phylogenetic analysis places D. sgiathanach in a clade of basal long-tailed non-monofenestratan pterosaurs, in a subclade of larger-bodied species (Angustinaripterini) with elongate skulls convergent in some aspects with pterodactyloids.6 Far from a static prologue to the Cretaceous, the Middle Jurassic was a key interval in pterosaur evolution, in which some non-pterodactyloids diversified and experimented with larger sizes, concurrent with or perhaps earlier than the origin of birds.",
author = "Natalia Jagielska and Michael O'Sullivan and Gregory Funston and Ian Butler and Tom Challands and Clark, {Neil D. L.} and Nick Fraser and Amelia Penny and Ross, {Dugald A.} and Mark Wilkinson and Steve Brusatte",
note = "Funding Information: We thank the National Geographic Society (GEFNE185-16 to PI S.L.B.) for funding the fieldtrip on which the new pterosaur was found, a Philip Leverhulme Prize (to S.L.B.) for funding Edinburgh{\textquoteright}s palaeontology laboratory, NERC for N.J.{\textquoteright}s E4DTP studentship ( NE/S007407/1 ), and the Royal Society ( NIF\R1\191527 to G.F.F.) for funding the paleohistology workspace. We thank Nigel Larkin for his expert preparation of the specimen, Stig Walsh for curation support, Elizabeth Martin-Silverstone for discussion, Scott Hartman for advice on skeletal reconstructions, and our 2017 field crew (Paige dePolo, Davide Foffa, Daniel Goldberg, Jon Hoad, Michela Johnson, Shasta Marrero, Alistair McGowan, Moji Ogunkanmi, Elsa Panciroli, Paulo Pereira, Andrew Ross, Stig Walsh, and Wheelbarrow Steve). We thank Rodrigo P{\^e}gas, David Hone, Jordan Bestwick, and editor Florian Maderspacher for their helpful comments. Funding Information: We thank the National Geographic Society (GEFNE185-16 to PI S.L.B.) for funding the fieldtrip on which the new pterosaur was found, a Philip Leverhulme Prize (to S.L.B.) for funding Edinburgh's palaeontology laboratory, NERC for N.J.?s E4DTP studentship (NE/S007407/1), and the Royal Society (NIF\R1\191527 to G.F.F.) for funding the paleohistology workspace. We thank Nigel Larkin for his expert preparation of the specimen, Stig Walsh for curation support, Elizabeth Martin-Silverstone for discussion, Scott Hartman for advice on skeletal reconstructions, and our 2017 field crew (Paige dePolo, Davide Foffa, Daniel Goldberg, Jon Hoad, Michela Johnson, Shasta Marrero, Alistair McGowan, Moji Ogunkanmi, Elsa Panciroli, Paulo Pereira, Andrew Ross, Stig Walsh, and Wheelbarrow Steve). We thank Rodrigo P?gas, David Hone, Jordan Bestwick, and editor Florian Maderspacher for their helpful comments. N.J. led the study of the specimen as part of her PhD project at the University of Edinburgh and performed the descriptive and comparative analysis, assembled the character dataset and conducted the phylogenetic analysis, conducted ?CT scan segmentation, drafted all figures (outlines, cladogram, reconstructions, and skeleton models), and edited the text. M.O.S. provided supervision, advice on pterosaur anatomy, wingspan calculations (including the wingspan figure in Figure 4), and assistance with the phylogenetic analysis. S.L.B. supervised N.J.?s PhD project on this specimen, led the field team that collected the specimen, drafted the text of the manuscript, and performed the wingspan statistical analyses. I.B.B. ?CT scanned the specimen. G.F.F. conducted the bone histology analysis and photographed the specimen. A.P. discovered the specimen. D.A.R. S.L.B. T.J.C. N.D.L.C. and A.P. collected the specimen. N.D.L.C. N.C.F. and M.W. provided co-supervision. All authors edited and approved the text. S.L.B. is a member of Current Biology's advisory board. The author list of this paper includes contributors from the location where the research was conducted who participated in the data collection, design, analysis, and/or interpretation of the work. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Elsevier Inc.",
year = "2022",
month = mar,
day = "28",
doi = "10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.073",
language = "English",
volume = "32",
pages = "1446--1453.e4",
journal = "Current Biology",
issn = "0960-9822",
publisher = "Cell Press",
number = "6",
}