Genus of ornithocheiroid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous
Volgadraco
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Campanian
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Speculative reconstruction of Volgadraco as an azhdarchid
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Order:
†Pterosauria
Suborder:
†Pterodactyloidea
Clade:
†Pteranodontia
Genus:
†Volgadraco Averianov et al., 2008[1]
Species:
†V. bogolubovi
Binomial name
†Volgadraco bogolubovi
Averianov et al., 2008[1]
Volgadraco ("Volga River dragon") is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of European Russia. Volgadraco was originally classified as an azhdarchid. However, recent studies have concluded that it may belong to either the family Nyctosauridae,[2] or the family Pteranodontidae.[3]
Volgadraco is known from lower beak (holotype SGU, no. 46/104a) and postcranial fragments from the early Campanian-age Rybushka Formation of Saratov, Russia. The size of this animal, and the development of blood supply in the lower jaw are intermediate between older Santonian or Turonian azhdarchids like Azhdarcho and Bakonydraco and later Maastrichtian azhdarchids like Quetzalcoatlus. Volgadraco was described in 2008 by Averianov, Arkhangelsky, and Pervushov. The type species is V. bogolubovi, the specific name honouring Russian paleontologist Nikolai Nikolaevich Bogolubov. The authors consider the earlier named genus Bogolubovia to be a nomen dubium that in fact might be identical to Volgadraco;[1] their conclusions are refuted by a 2022 paper, which considers both Volgadraco and Bogolubovia to both be valid pteranodontids.[4]
^ abcAverianov, A.O.; Arkhangelsky, M.S.; Pervushov, E.M. (October 2008). "A New Late Cretaceous Azhdarchid (Pterosauria, Azhdarchidae) from the Volga Region". Paleontological Journal. 42 (6): 634–642. Bibcode:2008PalJ...42..634A. doi:10.1134/S0031030108060099. S2CID 129558986.
^Longrich, Nicholas R.; Martill, David M.; Andres, Brian; Penny, David (2018). "Late Maastrichtian pterosaurs from North Africa and mass extinction of Pterosauria at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary". PLOS Biology. 16 (3): e2001663. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2001663. PMC 5849296. PMID 29534059.
^Averianov, A.O.; Arkhangelsky, M.S. (2021). "A large pteranodontid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Eastern Europe". Geological Magazine. 158 (7): 1143–1155. Bibcode:2021GeoM..158.1143A. doi:10.1017/S0016756820001119. S2CID 229441587.
^Averianov AO, Kurin AS (2022). "A new specimen of pteranodontid pterosaur Bogolubovia orientalis from the Upper Cretaceous of Penza Province, Russia". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. 35 (8): 1288–1296. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2087522. S2CID 249728681.
Volgadraco ("Volga River dragon") is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of European Russia. Volgadraco was originally classified...
they represent a ghost lineage dating much earlier in the Cretaceous. Volgadraco, previously assumed to be an azhdarchid, has also since been relocated...
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