A new non-pterodactyloid monofenestratan pterosaur from the Mörnsheim Formation of southern Germany

Abstract

In addition to the numerous pterosaur specimens and species found in the fossil-ferous limestone beds of southern Germany, recent discoveries there have shown that the intermediate non-pterodactyloid monofenestratan grade of pterosaurs were also present. Here we describe and identify a new genus and species of pterosaur from this grade. This new animal Makrodactylus oligodontus gen. and sp. nov. is smaller than the species currently described from this grade in Germany, but is clearly at, or near, adult status. Diagnostic traits include a number of unusually long teeth in the jaw, and the presence of a long wing finger compared to the proximal arm. This is now the fourth member of this grade known from the region, and the third from the Mörnsheim Formation which are apparently near absent elsewhere, suggesting that these animals inhab-ited a different environment to the more commonly found pterosaurs.