A reappraisal of the purported gastric pellet with Pterosaurian bones from the Upper Triassic of Italy
Holgado, Borja (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Dalla Vecchia, Fabio (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Fortuny, Josep (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Bernardini, Federico (Museo storico della fisica e Centro di studi e ricerche "Enrico Fermi")
Tuniz, Claudio (Museo storico della fisica e Centro di studi e ricerche "Enrico Fermi")

Date:	2015
Abstract:	A small accumulation of bones from the Norian (Upper Triassic) of the Seazza Brook Valley (Carnic Prealps, Northern Italy) was originally (1989) identified as a gastric pellet made of pterosaur skeletal elements. The specimen has been reported in literature as one of the very few cases of gastric ejecta containing pterosaur bones since then. However, the detailed analysis of the bones preserved in the pellet, their study by X-ray microCT, and the comparison with those of basal pterosaurs do not support a referral to the Pterosauria. Comparison with the osteology of a large sample of Middle-Late Triassic reptiles shows some affinity with the protorosaurians, mainly with Langobardisaurus pandolfii that was found in the same formation as the pellet. However, differences with this species suggest that the bones belong to a similar but distinct taxon. The interpretation as a gastric pellet is confirmed.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	PloS one, Vol. 10, issue 11 (Nov. 2015) , e0141275, ISSN 1932-6203

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141275
PMID: 26560101

30 p, 46.0 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles