[D] Patagopteryx deferrariisi [~/~]
Describer
Alvarenga & Bonaparte, 1992
Time
Cretaceous Late Santonian Campanian
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tetanurae Coelurosauria Maniraptora Avialae Ornithothoraces
Fossilsite
Bajo de La Carpa member of the Rio Colorado Formation, Neuquén, Argentina
Info
Several skeletons
The tail of the flightless bird Patagopteryx deferrariisi is shorter than the femur and with an upturned and ploughshare-shaped compressed pygostyle in the adult, composed of less than six segments, and shorter than the less than eight free caudals homologous with Vultur gryphus. Jugal-postorbital contact absent (unknown in Patagopteryx); shortened pygostyle (unknown in Patagopteryx); ossified uncinate processes (unknown in Patagopteryx); procoracoid process; humeral head convex in anterior view; midline of humeral head projected furthest proximally (unknown in Patagopteryx, and quite possibly correlated with the previous character); manual phalanx II-1 strongly compressed; proximodorsal ischial process absent; tibiotarsal condyles subequal in transverse width. (after Clarke, 2002, with taxa added from Zhou and Zhang, 2005)
The sternum is reduced and lacks a carina. The coracoids articulate with the sternum via widely separated facets, and are reduced in size. The furcula is absent from all specimens, and due to the preservational quality of the Patagopteryx material, it is difficult to attribute this discrepancy to preservational vagaries. The carpometacarpus is reduced, and the morphometric data from the forelimb is congruent with that observed in a broad range of flightless taxa.
Alvarenga & Bonaparte, 1992
Time
Cretaceous Late Santonian Campanian
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tetanurae Coelurosauria Maniraptora Avialae Ornithothoraces
Fossilsite
Bajo de La Carpa member of the Rio Colorado Formation, Neuquén, Argentina
Info
Several skeletons
The tail of the flightless bird Patagopteryx deferrariisi is shorter than the femur and with an upturned and ploughshare-shaped compressed pygostyle in the adult, composed of less than six segments, and shorter than the less than eight free caudals homologous with Vultur gryphus. Jugal-postorbital contact absent (unknown in Patagopteryx); shortened pygostyle (unknown in Patagopteryx); ossified uncinate processes (unknown in Patagopteryx); procoracoid process; humeral head convex in anterior view; midline of humeral head projected furthest proximally (unknown in Patagopteryx, and quite possibly correlated with the previous character); manual phalanx II-1 strongly compressed; proximodorsal ischial process absent; tibiotarsal condyles subequal in transverse width. (after Clarke, 2002, with taxa added from Zhou and Zhang, 2005)
The sternum is reduced and lacks a carina. The coracoids articulate with the sternum via widely separated facets, and are reduced in size. The furcula is absent from all specimens, and due to the preservational quality of the Patagopteryx material, it is difficult to attribute this discrepancy to preservational vagaries. The carpometacarpus is reduced, and the morphometric data from the forelimb is congruent with that observed in a broad range of flightless taxa.