3D printed skull reconstruction; the dip in the forehead is perhaps too pronounced
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Order:
†Pterosauria
Clade:
†Macronychoptera
Family:
†Dimorphodontidae
Genus:
†Caelestiventus Britt et al., 2018
Type species
†Caelestiventus hanseni
Britt et al., 2018
Caelestiventus (/səˌlɛstɪˈvɛntəs/sə-LES-tih-VEN-təs, meaning "heavenly wind") is a pterosaur genus from the Late Triassic (Norian or Rhaetian) found in western North America.[1] The type species, Caelestiventus hanseni, honors Robin Hansen, the Bureau of Land Management geologist (BLM), who facilitated access to the excavation site.
Caelestiventus is important because it is the sole example of a desert-dwelling non-pterodactyloid pterosaur and is 65 million years older than other known desert-dwelling pterosaurs. Additionally, it shows that even the earliest pterosaurs were morphologically and ecologically diverse and that the Dimorphodontidae originated in the Triassic period.[1]
^ abBritt, B. B.; Dalla Vecchia, F. M.; Chure, D. J.; Engelmann, G. F.; Whiting, M. F.; Scheetz, R. D. (2018). "Caelestiventus hanseni gen. et sp. nov. extends the desert-dwelling pterosaur record back 65 million years". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 2 (9): 1386–1392. Bibcode:2018NatEE...2.1386B. doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0627-y. ISSN 2397-334X. PMID 30104753.
2015 the discovery of Caelestiventus was reported in the scientific literature. Most Triassic pterosaurs are small. Caelestiventus, however, is one of the...
Late Triassic of North America by Britt and colleagues, and was named Caelestiventus. This discovery expanded the geographic, temporal and also the ecological...
Chure, D. J.; Engelmann, G. F.; Whiting, M. F.; Scheetz, R. D. (2018). "Caelestiventus hanseni gen. et sp. nov. extends the desert-dwelling pterosaur record...
known pterosaur specimen from the Western Hemisphere (now overtaken by Caelestiventus). The phylogenetic placement of Rhamphinion is tenuous due to changes...
George F.; Whiting, Michael F.; Scheetz, Rodney D. (13 August 2018). "Caelestiventus hanseni gen. et sp. nov. extends the desert-dwelling pterosaur record...
Global Information
