Enigmatic dinosaur precursors bridge the gap to the origin of Pterosauria

Martín D. Ezcurra (), Sterling J. Nesbitt, Mario Bronzati, Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia, Federico L. Agnolin, Roger B. J. Benson, Federico Brissón Egli, Sergio F. Cabreira, Serjoscha W. Evers, Adriel R. Gentil, Randall B. Irmis, Agustín G. Martinelli, Fernando E. Novas, Lúcio Roberto da Silva, Nathan D. Smith, Michelle R. Stocker, Alan H. Turner and Max C. Langer
Additional contact information
Martín D. Ezcurra: Sección Paleontología de Vertebrados CONICET–Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia‘
Sterling J. Nesbitt: Virginia Tech
Mario Bronzati: Universidade de São Paulo
Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia: Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Federico L. Agnolin: Laboratorio de Anatomía Comparada y Evolución de los Vertebrados CONICET–Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’
Roger B. J. Benson: University of Oxford
Federico Brissón Egli: Laboratorio de Anatomía Comparada y Evolución de los Vertebrados CONICET–Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’
Sergio F. Cabreira: Associação Sul Brasileira de Paleontologia
Serjoscha W. Evers: University of Oxford
Adriel R. Gentil: Laboratorio de Anatomía Comparada y Evolución de los Vertebrados CONICET–Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’
Randall B. Irmis: University of Utah
Agustín G. Martinelli: Sección Paleontología de Vertebrados CONICET–Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia‘
Fernando E. Novas: Laboratorio de Anatomía Comparada y Evolución de los Vertebrados CONICET–Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’
Lúcio Roberto da Silva: Associação Sul Brasileira de Paleontologia
Nathan D. Smith: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Michelle R. Stocker: Virginia Tech
Alan H. Turner: Stony Brook University
Max C. Langer: Universidade de São Paulo

Nature, 2020, vol. 588, issue 7838, 445-449

Abstract: Abstract Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight1 and comprised one of the main evolutionary radiations in terrestrial ecosystems of the Mesozoic era (approximately 252–66 million years ago), but their origin has remained an unresolved enigma in palaeontology since the nineteenth century2–4. These flying reptiles have been hypothesized to be the close relatives of a wide variety of reptilian clades, including dinosaur relatives2–8, and there is still a major morphological gap between those forms and the oldest, unambiguous pterosaurs from the Upper Triassic series. Here, using recent discoveries of well-preserved cranial remains, microcomputed tomography scans of fragile skull bones (jaws, skull roofs and braincases) and reliably associated postcrania, we demonstrate that lagerpetids—a group of cursorial, non-volant dinosaur precursors—are the sister group of pterosaurs, sharing numerous synapomorphies across the entire skeleton. This finding substantially shortens the temporal and morphological gap between the oldest pterosaurs and their closest relatives and simultaneously strengthens the evidence that pterosaurs belong to the avian line of archosaurs. Neuroanatomical features related to the enhanced sensory abilities of pterosaurs9 are already present in lagerpetids, which indicates that these features evolved before flight. Our evidence illuminates the first steps of the assembly of the pterosaur body plan, whose conquest of aerial space represents a remarkable morphofunctional innovation in vertebrate evolution.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-3011-4

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