Allometric analysis sheds light on the systematics and ontogeny of anurognathid pterosaurs

Yang, Zixiao; Benton, Michael J.; Hone, David W. E.; Xu, Xing; McNamara, Maria E.; Jiang, Baoyu

Allometric analysis sheds light on the systematics and ontogeny of anurognathid pterosaurs

dc.contributor.author	Yang, Zixiao
dc.contributor.author	Benton, Michael J.
dc.contributor.author	Hone, David W. E.
dc.contributor.author	Xu, Xing
dc.contributor.author	McNamara, Maria E.
dc.contributor.author	Jiang, Baoyu
dc.contributor.funder	National Natural Science Foundation of China	en
dc.contributor.funder	Chinese Academy of Sciences	en
dc.contributor.funder	China Scholarship Council	en
dc.contributor.funder	Nanjing University	en
dc.date.accessioned	2022-03-24T10:01:48Z
dc.date.available	2022-03-24T10:01:48Z
dc.date.issued	2022-03-03
dc.date.updated	2022-03-24T09:24:51Z
dc.description.abstract	Anurognathids are a clade of non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs with generally conservative morphology, but specializations as insectivores. They are represented by a disparate collection of adult and juvenile specimens that range in wingspan from ∼0.24–1 m. There have been concerns about the extent to which ontogenetic variation might affect phylogenetic inference, and indeed how aspects of their ontogeny might relate to the distinctive anurognathid adult morphology. Here we perform allometric analysis on 23 key skeletal dimensions in 13 anurognathid specimens. Our results show that all anurognathids share a common growth trajectory in most dimensions, and that ontogeny affects variation in a minority of characters commonly used in phylogenetic analysis. Excluding these ontogeny-related characters, a new taxon, Cascocauda rong gen. et sp. nov., is established. Based on the ontogenetically corrected dataset, our phylogenetic analysis supports Anurognathidae as the sister-group of Breviquartossa and reveals a general trend of tail reduction in the clade. Allometric growth suggests the anurognathid lifestyle remained consistent throughout ontogeny, maintaining a highly maneuverable flight style by near-isometric development in the wing, small prey (i.e., insects), by strong negative allometry in the skull, and an arboreal habit by strong positive allometry in the claws. This specialized lifestyle suggests retention of plesiomorphic juvenile traits into later ontogeny and facilitated morphological stasis by stabilizing selection during over 40 million years of evolution in the group.	en
dc.description.sponsorship	National Natural Science Foundation of China (41688103 and 41672010); Chinese Academy of Sciences (Strategic Priority Research Program B (XDB26000000)); China Scholarship Council (No. 201906190142); Nanjing University (Program A for Outstanding PhD candidate (202002A028))	en
dc.description.status	Peer reviewed	en
dc.description.version	Accepted Version	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.citation	Yang, Z., Benton, M. J., Hone, D. W. E., Xu, X., McNamara, M. E. and Jiang, B. (2021) 'Allometric analysis sheds light on the systematics and ontogeny of anurognathid pterosaurs', Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2021.2028796	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1080/02724634.2021.2028796	en
dc.identifier.eissn	1937-2809
dc.identifier.issn	0272-4634
dc.identifier.journaltitle	Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10468/12968
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	Taylor & Francis	en
dc.relation.uri	https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Allometric_analysis_sheds_light_on_the_systematics_and_ontogeny_of_anurognathid_pterosaurs/19299897
dc.rights	© 2022, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an item published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on 03 March 2022, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.2028796	en
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/	en
dc.subject	Anurognathids	en
dc.subject	Non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs	en
dc.subject	Insectivores	en
dc.title	Allometric analysis sheds light on the systematics and ontogeny of anurognathid pterosaurs	en
dc.type	Article (peer-reviewed)	en