Stance biomechanis of the wing during flight in Anhanguera piscator and Tupuxuara leonardii (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) and considerations on the evolution of flight within the group

• Grant number: 19/10231-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2019
• End date: June 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
• Principal Investigator: Fabiana Rodrigues Costa Nunes
• Grantee: Rodrigo Vargas Pêgas
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Pterosaurs represent the first group of vertebrates to conquer active flight, presenting a fossil record that extends from the Upper Triassic to the Upper Cretaceous. Although they have been studied for more than 200 years, there are still many controversial issues regarding this group, including their flight, such as the stance assumed by the wings during flight, and the variation of this stance between different lineages. In this sense, the project proposes to infer, through a biomechanical study, the optimal wing stance during the static phase of the flight of two pterodactyloid pterosaurs: Anhanguera piscator and Tupuxuara leonardii. This approach, unprecedented for the study in question, includes the 3D virtual reconstruction of osteomuscular models of these two species, and a comparison between the optimal stance assumed by the models of each of these species. The results obtained from the manipulation of such models may, in addition to providing information on the flight wing posture differences of these species, contribute to the knowledge of the evolution of pterosaur flight adaptations, the types of niches occupied by this group during the Mesozoic period, and of a possible compartmentalization of niches between pterosaurs and Mesozoic birds, thus enabling a better understanding of how flight would have evolved in this group of flying reptiles. (AU)

Scientific publications

(10)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BRUM, ARTHUR S.; PEGAS, RODRIGO V.; BANDEIRA, KAMILA L. N.; SOUZA, LUCY G.; CAMPOS, DIOGENES A.; KELLNER, ALEXANDER W. A.. A new unenlagiine (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Brazil. PAPERS IN PALAEONTOLOGY, v. 7, n. 4, AUG 2021. (19/10231-6)

BANDEIRA, KAMILA L. N.; BRUM, ARTHUR S.; PEGAS, V, RODRIGO; DE SOUZA, LUCY G.; PEREIRA, PAULO VICTOR LUIZ G. C.; PINHEIRO, ANDRE EDUARDO P.. The first Jurassic theropod from the Sergi Formation, Jatoba Basin, Brazil. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, v. 93, n. 2, 2021. (19/10231-6)

WEI, XUEFANG; PEGAS, RODRIGO VARGAS; SHEN, CAIZHI; GUO, YANFANG; MA, WAISUM; SUN, DEYU; ZHOU, XUANYU. Sinomacrops bondei, a new anurognathid pterosaur from the Jurassic of China and comments on the group. PeerJ, v. 9, MAR 31 2021. (19/10231-6)

ZHOU, XUANYU; PEGAS, V, RODRIGO; MA, WAISUM; HAN, GANG; JIN, XINGSHENG; LEAL, MARIA E. C.; BONDE, NIELS; KOBAYASHI, YOSHITSUGU; LAUTENSCHLAGER, STEPHAN; WEI, XUEFANG; et al. A new darwinopteran pterosaur reveals arborealism and an opposed thumb. Current Biology, v. 31, n. 11, p. 2429+, JUN 7 2021. (19/10231-6)

DE SOUZA, LUCY G.; BANDEIRA, KAMILA L. N.; PEGAS, V, RODRIGO; BRUM, ARTHUR S.; MACHADO, RODRIGO; GUILHERME, EDSON; LOBODA, THIAGO S.; DE SOUZA-FILHO, JONAS P.. The history, importance and anatomy of the specimen that validated the giant Purussaurus brasiliensis Barbosa-Rodrigues 1892 (Crocodylia: Caimaninae). Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, v. 93, n. 2, 2021. (19/10231-6)

KAMILA L.N. BANDEIRA; ARTHUR S. BRUM; RODRIGO V. PÊGAS; LUCY G. DE SOUZA; PAULO VICTOR LUIZ G.C. PEREIRA; ANDRÉ EDUARDO P. PINHEIRO. The first Jurassic theropod from the Sergi Formation, Jatobá Basin, Brazil. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, v. 93, 2021-08-04. (19/10231-6)

PEGAS, V, RODRIGO; COSTA, FABIANA R.; KELLNER, ALEXANDER W. A.. econstruction of the adductor chamber and predicted bite force in pterodactyloids (Pterosauria. ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, v. 193, n. 2, p. 602-635, OCT 2021. (19/10231-6)

SHEN, CAIZHI; PEGAS, V, RODRIGO; GAO, CHUNLING; KUNDRAT, MARTIN; ZHANG, LIJUN; WEI, XUEFANG; ZHOU, XUANYU. A new specimen of Sinopterus dongi (Pterosauria, Tapejaridae) from the Jiufotang Formation (Early Cretaceous, China). PeerJ, v. 9, OCT 29 2021. (19/10231-6)

HOLGADO, BORJA; PEGAS, V, RODRIGO. A taxonomic and phylogenetic review of the anhanguerid pterosaur group Coloborhynchinae and the new Glade Tropeognathinae. ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA, v. 65, n. 4, p. 743-761, 2020. (19/10231-6)

PEGAS, RODRIGO V.; ZHOU, XUANYU; JIN, XINGSHENG; WANG, KAI; MA, WAISUM. A taxonomic revision of the Sinopterus complex (Pterosauria, Tapejaridae) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, with the new genus Huaxiadraco. PeerJ, v. 11, p. 69-pg., 2023-02-09. (19/10231-6)