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Dawndraco
''Dawndraco'' is a controversial genus of pteranodontidae, pteranodontid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America. It is likely synonymous with the contemporary pteranodontid ''Geosternbergia.'' ''Dawndraco'' was named by Alexander Kellner, Alexander W.A. Kellner in 2010 in paleontology, 2010. The type species is ''Dawndraco kanzai''. The name of a biological genus, generic name combines the Dawn deity of the Iroquois with a Latin ''draco'', "dragon". The specific name (zoology), specific name refers to the Kaw people, Kanza tribe of Kansas. ''Dawndraco'' is based on the holotype specimen UALVP 24238, a partial skeleton including an almost complete skull and lower jaws. It was recovered in 1974 by Richard C. Fox and Allen Lindoe from rocks of the lower part of the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation in Utica, Kansas. These rocks date to the late Coniacian or early Santonian stage, about 86 million years ago. The specimen was earlier referred to ''Ptera ...
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Geosternbergia
''Pteranodon sternbergi'' is an extinct species of the pteranodontid pterodactyloid pterosaur genus ''Pteranodon'' from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America. ''P. sternbergi'' was among the largest pterosaurs, with a wingspan of up to in males. It has been argued that ''P. sternbergi'' should be classified in a separate genus, ''Geosternbergia'', but this has not been followed by most other researchers. Discovery and history The first fossils of ''Pteranodon sternbergi'' were collected by American paleontologist George F. Sternberg in 1952 from the lower portion of the Niobrara Formation. The fossils of the animal looked similar to those of the species ''Pteranodon longiceps'', but the crests were set upright and in a slightly different position. In 1958, Sternberg and paleontologist Myrl V. Walker published a study about this peculiar find. In 1966, American paleontologist John Christian Harksen assigned the specimens found as a new species of ''Pteranodon' ...
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Pteranodon
''Pteranodon'' (; from and ) is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of over . They lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota and Alabama. More fossil specimens of ''Pteranodon'' have been found than any other pterosaur, with about 1,200 specimens known to science, many of them well preserved with nearly complete skulls and articulated skeletons. It was an important part of the animal community in the Western Interior Seaway. When the first fossils of ''Pteranodon'' were found, they were assigned to toothed pterosaur genera, ''Ornithocheirus'' and ''Pterodactylus''. In 1876, Othniel Charles Marsh recognised it as a genus of its own, making particular note of its complete lack of teeth, which at the time was unique among pterosaurs. Over the decades, multiple species would be assigned to ''Pteranodon'', though today, o ...
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Pteranodontidae
The Pteranodontidae are a Family (biology), family of large pterosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of North America and possibly other continents including Europe and Africa. The family was named in 1876 by Othniel Charles Marsh. Pteranodontids had a distinctive, elongated crest jutting from the rear of the head (most famously seen in ''Pteranodon'' itself). The spectacularly-crested ''Nyctosaurus'' is sometimes included in this family, though usually placed in its own family, the Nyctosauridae (Nicholson & Lydekker, 1889). Modern researchers differ in their use of the concept. S. Christopher Bennett and Alexander Kellner have concluded that ''Nyctosaurus'' was not a pteranodontid. In 1994 Bennett defined a clade Pteranodontidae, also including species of the Ornithocheiromorpha. However, this definition has not been accepted by other workers. Alexander Kellner, for example, named several additional species for specimens previously classified as ''Pteranodon'', and placed ''P. sternbe ...
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Timeline Of Pterosaur Research
This timeline of pterosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and Biological taxonomy, taxonomic revisions of pterosaurs, the famed flying reptiles of the Mesozoic Era (geology), era. Although pterosaurs went extinct millions of years before humans evolved, humans have coexisted with pterosaur fossils for millennia. Before the development of paleontology as a formal science, these remains would have been interpreted through a mythological lens. Myths about Thunderbird (mythology), thunderbirds told by the Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans of the modern Western United States may have been influenced by observations of ''Pteranodon'' fossils. These thunderbirds were said to have warred with water monsters, which agrees well with the co-occurrence of ''Pteranodon'' and the ancient marine reptiles of the Western Interior Seaway, seaway over which it flew. The formal study of pterosaurs beg ...
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List Of Pterosaur Genera
This list of pterosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera that have ever been included in the order Pterosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered invalid, doubtful (''nomen dubium''), or were not formally published (''nomen nudum''), as well as synonym (zoology), junior synonyms of more established names, and genera that are no longer considered pterosaurian. The list currently includes genera. Scope and terminology There is no official, canonical list of pterosaur genera, but the most thorough attempts can be found at the Pterosauria section of Mikko Haaramo's ''Phylogeny Archive'', the Genus Index at Mike Hanson's ''The Pterosauria'', supplemented by the Pterosaur Species List, and in the fourth supplement of Donald F. Glut's ''Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia'' series. Authors and year The authors column lists the authors of the formal description responsible for the erection ...
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Alexander Kellner
Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner (born September 26, 1961) is a Brazilian geologist and paleontologist who is a leading expert in the field of studying pterosaurs. His research has focused mainly on fossil reptiles from the Cretaceous Period, including extinct dinosaurs and crocodylomorphs. Kellner has over 500 publications to his name, has published more than 160 primary studies and two science books. He has participated in paleontological expeditions to many locations including Brazil, Chile, Iran, the United States, Argentina, China, and Antarctica. His scientific achievements include the description of more than thirty species. For his work he has received several honors and prizes, including the TWAS Prize for Earth Sciences from The World Academy of Sciences and admission to the National Order of Scientific Merit (class Comendador), one Brazil's most prestigious awards. Biography Kellner was born in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, son of a German father and Austrian mother. In h ...
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Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Aus ...
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Niobrara Formation
The Niobrara Formation , also called the Niobrara Chalk, is a geologic formation in North America that was deposited between 87 and 82 million years ago during the Coniacian, Santonian, and Campanian stages of the Late Cretaceous. It is composed of two structural units, the Smoky Hill Chalk Member overlying the Fort Hays Limestone Member. The chalk formed from the accumulation of coccoliths from microorganisms living in what was once the Western Interior Seaway, an inland sea that divided the continent of North America during much of the Cretaceous. It underlies much of the Great Plains of the US and Canada. Evidence of vertebrate life is common throughout the formation and includes specimens of plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, pterosaurs, and several primitive aquatic birds. The type locality for the Niobrara Chalk is the Niobrara River in Knox County in northeastern Nebraska. The formation gives its name to the Niobrara cycle of the Western Interior Seaway. History of expl ...
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Utica, Kansas
Utica is a city in Ness County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 99. History The first post office in Utica was established in 1879. Utica was named by early pioneer C.W. Bell who was from Utica, New York. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Climate The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Utica has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. Demographics 2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 158 people, 78 households, and 42 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 102 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.6% White, 0.6% African American, 0.6% Asian, 1.3% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.3% of ...
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Coniacian
The Coniacian is an age or stage in the geologic timescale. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series and spans the time between 89.8 ± 1 Ma and 86.3 ± 0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Coniacian is preceded by the Turonian and followed by the Santonian. Stratigraphic definitions The Coniacian is named after the city of Cognac in the French region of Saintonge. It was first defined by French geologist Henri Coquand in 1857. The base of the Coniacian Stage is at the first appearance of the inoceramid bivalve species '' Cremnoceramus deformis erectus''. The official reference profile for the base (a GSSP) is located in Salzgitter-Salder, Lower Saxony, Germany. The top of the Coniacian (the base of the Santonian Stage) is defined by the appearance of the inoceramid bivalve ''Cladoceramus undulatoplicatus''. The Coniacian overlaps the regional Emscherian Stage of Germany, which is roughly coeval with the Coniacian and Santonian Stages. In magn ...
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Osteology
Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practiced by osteologists . A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, archaeology and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, function, disease, pathology, the process of ossification from cartilaginous molds, and the resistance and hardness of bones (biophysics). Osteologists frequently work in the public and private sector as consultants for museums, scientists for research laboratories, scientists for medical investigations and/or for companies producing osteological reproductions in an academic context. The role of an osteologist entails understanding the macroscopic and microscopic anatomies of bones for both humans and non-humans (courses in non-human osteology is known as zooarchaeology). Osteology and osteologists should not be confused with the pseudoscientific practice of osteopathy and its practitioners, osteopaths. Methods A typica ...
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