A new darwinopteran pterosaur reveals arborealism and an opposed thumb

Xuanyu Zhou; Rodrigo V Pêgas; Waisum Ma; Gang Han; Xingsheng Jin; Maria E C Leal; Niels Bonde; Yoshitsugu Kobayashi; Stephan Lautenschlager; Xuefang Wei; Caizhi Shen; Shu'an Ji

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.030

A new darwinopteran pterosaur reveals arborealism and an opposed thumb

Curr Biol. 2021 Jun 7;31(11):2429-2436.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.030. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Authors

Xuanyu Zhou¹, Rodrigo V Pêgas², Waisum Ma³, Gang Han⁴, Xingsheng Jin⁵, Maria E C Leal⁶, Niels Bonde⁷, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi⁸, Stephan Lautenschlager³, Xuefang Wei⁹, Caizhi Shen¹⁰, Shu'an Ji¹¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China; Key Laboratory of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology (Ministry of Natural Resources), Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China; Beipiao Pterosaur Museum of China, Beipiao, Liaoning, China. Electronic address: zhouxuanyu@cugb.edu.cn.
² Federal University of ABC, São Bernardo, Brazil. Electronic address: rodrigo.pegas@hotmail.com.
³ School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁴ Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology, Haikou, Hainan, China; Hainan Tropical Ocean University, Sanya, Hainan, China.
⁵ Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁶ Faculty of Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁷ Zoological Museum (SNM), Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark; Fur Museum (Museum Salling), Fur, Denmark.
⁸ Hokkaido University Museum, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
⁹ State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China; Key Laboratory of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology (Ministry of Natural Resources), Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China; Centre of Cores and Samples of Nature Resources, China Geological Survey, Beijing, China.
¹⁰ Dalian Natural History Museum, Dalian, Liaoning, China.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology (Ministry of Natural Resources), Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China.

PMID: 33848460
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.030

Abstract

Pterosaurs, which lived during the Mesozoic, were the first known vertebrates to evolve powered flight.¹^,² Arboreal locomotion has been proposed for some taxa,³^,⁴ and even considered to have played a role in the origin of pterosaur flight.⁵^,⁶ Even so, there is still need for comprehensive quantitative ecomorphological analyses.³^,⁴ Furthermore, skeletal adaptations correlated to specialized lifestyles are often difficult to recognize and interpret in fossils. Here we report on a new darwinopteran pterosaur that inhabited a unique forest ecosystem from the Jurassic of China. The new species exhibits the oldest record of palmar (or true) opposition of the pollex, which is unprecedented for pterosaurs and represents a sophisticated adaptation related to arboreal locomotion. Principal-coordinate analyses suggest an arboreal lifestyle for the new species but not for other closely related species from the same locality, implying a possible case of ecological niche partitioning. The discovery adds to the known array of pterosaur adaptations and the history of arborealism in vertebrates. It also adds to the impressive early bloom of arboreal communities in the Jurassic of China, shedding light on the history of forest environments.

Keywords: Mesozoic; Pterosauria; Wukongopteridae; Yanliao Biota; arborealism; ecomorphology; functional morphology; niche partitioning; opposed thumb; vertebrate evolution.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Biological Evolution*
Ecosystem*
Fossils
Phylogeny
Primates
Thumb*
Trees
Vertebrates