Cacibupteryx

Taxobox
name = "Cacibupteryx"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Jurassic
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Pterosauria
subordo = Rhamphorhynchoidea
familia = Rhamphorhynchidae
genus = "Cacibupteryx"
genus_authority = Gasparini, Fernández, and de la Fuente, 2004
binomial = "Cacibupteryx caribensis"
binomial_authority = Gasparini, Fernández, and de la Fuente, 2004

"Cacibupteryx" (meaning "Cacibu [the Taino word for the lord of the sky] wing") is a genus of rhamphorhynchid rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur from the middle-late Oxfordian-age Upper Jurassic Jagua Formation of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. It is based on IGO-V 208, a partial but well-preserved uncrushed skull missing the tip of the snout, teeth, and lower jaw, and fragmentary left wing. The skull is 17 centimeters long (6.7 inches), is preserved in three dimensions, and has a broad roof. The wingspan and length were not estimated by the describers.cite journal |last=Gasparini |first=Zulma |coauthors=Fernández, Marta; and de la Fuente, Marcelo |year=2004 |title=A new pterosaur from the Jurassic of Cuba |journal=Palaeontology |volume=47 |issue= 4 |pages=919–927 |doi=10.1111/j.0031-0239.2004.00399 |url= http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.0031-0239.2004.00399.x/pdf |accessdate=2007-03-03]

Although it is a unique genus, and it appears to be a rhamphorhynchid, not enough of the animal is known to classify it any farther. Although there is little overlapping material with contemporaneous "Nesodactylus", the two are clearly different based on details of the elbow and quadrate. "Cacibupteryx" is one of the most complete Oxfordian pterosaurs, and demonstrates additional Oxfordian pterosaur diversity. Recent reviews have supported its assignment as a rhamphorhynchoid,cite book |last=Glut |first=Donald F. |authorlink=Donald F. Glut |title=Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia. 4th Supplement |year=2006 |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=0-7864-2295-5 |pages=p. 592 |chapter=Cacibupteryx ] with David Unwin suggesting it was a scaphognathine (in the subfamily of rhamphorhynchids with more robust jaws).cite book |last=Unwin |first=David M. |authorlink=David M. Unwin |title=The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time |year=2006 |publisher=Pi Press |location=New York |isbn=ISBN 0-13-146308-X |pages=p. 272 ]

References

External links

* [http://archosauria.org/pterosauria/taxonomy/genera/cacibupteryx.html "Cacibupteryx"] in The Pterosauria
* [http://www.pterosaur.co.uk/species/UJP/rhamph/Cacibupteryx.htm "Cacibupteryx"] in The Pterosaur Database