Intraspecific variation in the pterosaur Rhamphorhynchus muensteri-implications for flight and socio-sexual signaling.

ABSTRACT: Pterosaurs were the first powered flying vertebrates, with a fossil record that stretches back to about 230 million years before present. Most species are only known from one to three specimens, which are most often fragmentary. However, Rhamphorhynchus muensteri is known from numerous excellent specimens, including multiple specimens with soft tissue preservation. As such, Rhamphorhynchus muensteri is one of the only pterosaurs amenable to analysis for intraspecific variation. It has been previously predicted that elements directly involved in the flight apparatus, such as those of the forelimb, will be more highly constrained in their proportions than other parts of the skeleton. We investigated the degree of variation seen in elements and body parts of Rhamphorhynchus</

SUBMITTER: Habib MB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11260407 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature