Europeans – Wikipedia Wikipedia

Europejara (whose name combines the word Europe, place of discovery, with Tapejara , genus Affine) is an extinct genre of pterosauro tapejaride lived in the upper Cretaceous, about 126 million years ago (Barremiano-Aptian), in what is Spain today. ^[first]

L’ Europejara It is a relatively small module pterosaur, with an estimated wing of 2 meters. The beak was -free of teeth and on the tip of the jaw had a ridge that protruded downwards. ^[first]

The animal descriptors established three autapomorphies. The ridge present in the lower part of the jaw is rounded on the back. The ridge is wider and wider at the base. The ridge is four times deeper on the back of the jaw. Two other diagnostic strokes are: the internal side of the inspected jaw, causing a convex curvature; The internal side shows some shallow, but well delimited depressions. ^[first]

Due to the crushing of the skull, its fragments, which mainly represent the elements of the area around the right eye, show a small detail. The jaw currently has a length of 23 centimeters, while the original length of the animal in life has been estimated at 255 millimeters. In the front, the lower ganasces are merged with a symphysis in the jaw. Sinfisi has a top profile concave and equipped with a large coat of arms on the lower part, facing down for at least nine centimeters. The rear edge of the ridge is curved; The curvature of the front edge cannot be established precisely due to the state of conservation of the fossil. The internal bone structure of the ridge was quite spongy. The first corratobranchialia pair Astiformo of the Ioid have a length of 135 mm and a transversal section of two millimeters. ^[first]

L’ Europejara It is part of the tapejaridae family. A more accurate cladistic analysis has shown that the animal was a member of the sub -famiglia of the tapejarinae. In addition to being the first tapejaride known in Europe, the Europejara It would also seem the oldest pterosauro Edentulo known; Although other much larger fragments of pterosaurs have been found, they do not include the ganasces and are not classifiable. ^[first]

The cladogram below shows Andres’ analyzes et al. , (2014). ^[2]

In 2012, the type species Europejara Olcadesorum fu described and nominated for Romain Vullo, Jesús Marugán-Lobón, Alexander Kellner, Angela Busalioni, Bernard Gomez, Montserrat de la Fuente and José Moratalla. Il nome generic, Europejara , combines the word Europe and the name of the genus similar Tapejara , in reference to the fact that the Europejara It is the first tapejaride found in Europe. The specific name, olcadesorum , refers to the Olcadi, a Celtiberic tribe who lived in the Cuenca region, the position of the discovery, in antiquity. ^[first]

The olotype, McCm-Lh 9413, was recovered at the Las Hoyas website, in a layer of clay of the Calizas de la Huergina formation, dating back to the end of the Barremian. The olotype consists of a partial skull, including the lower jaw compressed in a slab together with the counter-last. There are also a couple of elements of the Ioid. During fossilization, the skull was compressed vertically, while the ganasces lower horizontally. The sample was prepared by Mercedes Llandres Serrano, and is part of the collection of the Las Hoyas Museum of the Museo de Las Ciencias de Castilla-La Mancha. ^[first]

According to some interpretations of scientists, the Europejara , as well as all tapejarids, would have a frugivorous lifestyle. Since the species is very ancient, this includes a real revolution within the Cretaceous environment. In fact, in the period of transition between the lower Cretaceous and the upper Cretaceous, an environmental change occurred in which the gimnosperm plants were replaced by the angiospermal plants, that is, flower plants, making new groups of herbivores evolved on earth later to the adaptation and supply of modified food. In the case of tapejarids, an interactive reinforcement cycle could be presumed between the evolution of fruit and pterosaurs, which feeding the fruit dispersed the seeds on long distances thanks to their flight ability, similarly to that of modern Australian casua casuals, But in a much wider way. Perhaps the beaks of the tapejarids had jagged edges, form pseudo-lights to better separate the pulp from the seeds during nutrition, as happens in modern tucani. ^[first]