A terminal Cretaceous giant pterosaur from the French Pyrenees
A terminal Cretaceous giant pterosaur from the French Pyrenees
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DOI：
10.1017/s0016756897007449
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发表时间：
1997-07-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Bilotte, M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Buffetaut, E;Laurent, Y;Bilotte, M
在法国比利牛斯山山麓的梅里贡的上马斯特里赫特阶沉积物中发现了一个非常大的翼龙颈椎。它更像得克萨斯州马斯特里赫特人的羽蛇翼龙的椎骨，而不是约旦马斯特里赫特人的Arambourgiania。据估计，梅里贡翼龙的翼展接近9米，这使它成为已知最大的飞行生物之一。巨型翼龙在马斯特里赫特时代末期仍然有广泛的地理分布，这并不意味着一个正在衰落的群体，尽管根据现有的数据很难准确估计白垩纪末期翼龙的分类多样性。
A very large pterosaur cervical vertebra is described from the Upper Maastrichtian deposits of Merigon, in the foothills of the French Pyrenees. It resembles the vertebrae of Quetzalcoatlus, from the Maastrichtian of Texas, more than those of Arambourgiania, from the Maastrichtian of Jordan. The estimated wing span of the Merigon pterosaur is close to 9 m, which makes it one of the largest known flying creatures. Giant pterosaurs still had a wide geographical distribution at the end of Maastrichtian time, which is not suggestive of a declining group, although it is difficult to obtain an accurate estimate of taxonomic diversity of terminal Cretaceous pterosaurs on the basis of available data.