Camposipterus (?) colorhinus (Seeley, 1870) Rodrigues & Kellner, 2013

Rodrigues, Taissa & Kellner, Alexander Wilhelm Armin, 2013, Taxonomic review of the Ornithocheirus complex (Pterosauria) from the Cretaceous of England, ZooKeys 308, pp. 1-112 : 29-30

Camposipterus (?) colorhinus (Seeley, 1870) comb. n. Fig. 10E-H

"Ptenodactylus" colorhinus Seeley: Seeley 1869: p. xvi [disclaimed]

Ornithocheirus colorhinus Seeley: Seeley 1870: p. 124

Ornithocheirus colorhinus Seeley: Hooley 1914: p. 535

Anhanguera cuvieri (Bowerbank): Unwin 2001: fig. 10A, B, table 1

Syntypes.

CAMSM B54431 ( Fig. 10E-H ) and CAMSM B54432, anterior parts of the rostrum.

Type locality.

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

Type horizon.

Cambridge Greensand (Cenomanian; fossils Albian in age).

Diagnosis.

Pterodactyloid pterosaur with the following combination of characters that distinguishes it from other members of the clade (autapomorphies are marked with an asterisk): developed anterior expansion, lacking a marked constriction; presence of a depression above the first pair of alveoli; anterior depression faces anteroventrally*; second and third alveoli very large in size; fourth pair of alveoli much smaller than the second and third.

Description.

The syntypes, CAMSM B54431 (the more complete one) and CAMSM B54432, both are anterior portions of upper jaws. They are quite incomplete and abraded, but they are identical where comparable and demonstrate that their features are valid morphological characters rather than taphonomic artifacts. Seeley (1870) pointed out the presence of a slightly convex median part of the palate (seen in CAMSM B54431), an anterior expansion of the rostrum, and the large, round alveoli, the first of which faces anteroventrally. Seeley (1870) interpreted the presence of a lunate area as attachment for a lip. We verified this observation but question his interpretation, as the tips of the jaws of pterosaurs were covered by a horny beak ( Seeley 1901: fig. 20; Kellner and Tomida 2000; Frey et al. 2003; Pinheiro et al. 2011).

This lunate area is a depression above the first pair of alveoli; a depression in the same location is also present in Uktenadactylus wadleighi but in the latter the anterior margin of the rostrum faces anteriorly ( Lee 1994; Rodrigues and Kellner 2008), whereas in Camposipterus(?) colorhinus this edge faces anteroventrally and, consequently, the orientation of the depression is also different. Furthermore, the first pair of teeth in Uktenadactylus is located higher and the anterior expansion is more squarish and not round as in the species under discussion.

Remarks.

Unwin (2001) referred to CAMSM B54431 as "a large individual of Anhanguera cuvieri " [= Cimoliopterus cuvieri ]. Camposipterus(?) colorhinus can be excluded from Cimoliopterus cuvieri , which lacks an anterior expansion of the rostrum or a depression above the first pair of alveoli.

Camposipterus(?) colorhinus shares with Camposipterus nasutus and Camposipterus(?) sedgwickii an anterior expansion of the rostrum and a round profile, and thus is tentatively referred to Camposipterus . As the syntypes are incomplete, it is uncertain if this taxon had a crest. It further shares with Camposipterus(?) sedgwickii the presence of a tall rostrum and robust anterior alveoli. However, Camposipterus(?) colorhinus represents a much larger and more robust pterosaur in comparison with the latter species.

Figures

Figure 10. A-D Camposipterus (?) sedgwickii comb. n., holotype CAMSM B 54422 (Albian, Cambridge Greensand), anterior part of the rostrum. A right lateral B respective line drawing C ventral view D respective line drawing. E-H Camposipterus (?) colorhinus comb. n., syntype CAMSM B 54431 (Albian, Cambridge Greensand), anterior part of the rostrum E left lateral view F respective line drawing G ventral view H respective line drawing. Abbreviations: dep - depression, m - maxillae, pm - premaxillae, prid - palatal ridge. Arrows and numbers indicate alveoli or teeth and their respective position. Scale bar = 10 mm.