Early Jurassic pterosaur diet from gut contents of Campylognathoides and Dorygnathus (free pdf)
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Ben Creisler
Oct 23, 2024, 10:37:14 AMOct 23
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Ben Creisler
A new paper:
Samuel. L. A. Cooper, Roy E. Smith & David M. Martill (2024)
Dietary tendencies of the Early Jurassic pterosaurs Campylognathoides Strand, 1928, and Dorygnathus Wagner, 1860, with additional evidence for teuthophagy in Pterosauria
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology e2403577
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2024.2403577
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2024.2403577
Dietary tendencies of the Early Jurassic pterosaurs Campylognathoides Strand, 1928, and Dorygnathus Wagner, 1860, with additional evidence for teuthophagy in Pterosauria
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology e2403577
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2024.2403577
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2024.2403577
Free pdf:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/02724634.2024.2403577
The diets and feeding strategies of pterosaurs remain a poorly known although speculatively debated topic in vertebrate paleontology. Fossilized gut contents, which offer a crucial direct line of evidence to help decipher these elusive questions, are only known from a handful of pterosaur specimens in a few notable fossil Lagerstätten, such as the Solnhofen Limestone of Bavaria. Although extremely rare, pterosaurs can be exceptionally well preserved in the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) Posidonia shale of Baden–Württemberg but, until now, none have been reported with identifiable gut contents. Here, we describe fossilized gut contents in two Posidonia Shale pterosaurs: Dorygnathus banthensis (Rhamphorhynchidae) and Campylognathoides zitteli (Campylognathoididae). Dorygnathus is shown to be piscivorous as indicated by the inclusion of the small teleost Leptolepis sp. preserved inside of the abdominal cavity. The gastrointestinal tract of Campylognathoides preserves associated accumulations of belemnoid hooklets referrable to Clarkeiteuthis conocauda and thereby demonstrating a teuthophagous diet. These findings represent the first convincing evidence for belemnoids contributing to the diet of a pterosaur and hint at a possible nocturnal hunting behavior for Campylognathoides. Previous hypotheses regarding dietary trophic partitioning based on differentiating skull anatomy in Posidonia Shale pterosaurs are supported.
The diets and feeding strategies of pterosaurs remain a poorly known although speculatively debated topic in vertebrate paleontology. Fossilized gut contents, which offer a crucial direct line of evidence to help decipher these elusive questions, are only known from a handful of pterosaur specimens in a few notable fossil Lagerstätten, such as the Solnhofen Limestone of Bavaria. Although extremely rare, pterosaurs can be exceptionally well preserved in the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) Posidonia shale of Baden–Württemberg but, until now, none have been reported with identifiable gut contents. Here, we describe fossilized gut contents in two Posidonia Shale pterosaurs: Dorygnathus banthensis (Rhamphorhynchidae) and Campylognathoides zitteli (Campylognathoididae). Dorygnathus is shown to be piscivorous as indicated by the inclusion of the small teleost Leptolepis sp. preserved inside of the abdominal cavity. The gastrointestinal tract of Campylognathoides preserves associated accumulations of belemnoid hooklets referrable to Clarkeiteuthis conocauda and thereby demonstrating a teuthophagous diet. These findings represent the first convincing evidence for belemnoids contributing to the diet of a pterosaur and hint at a possible nocturnal hunting behavior for Campylognathoides. Previous hypotheses regarding dietary trophic partitioning based on differentiating skull anatomy in Posidonia Shale pterosaurs are supported.
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