Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of Gnathosaurine Pterosaur, named Spathagnathus roeperiFrom a fossilized sample found in “Solnhofen limestones” in southern Germany.
Artistic reconstruction of Spathagnathus roeperi. Image credit: Alessio Ciaffi.
Spathagnathus roeperi Inhabited the so-called Solnhofen archipelago during the time of the Upper Jurassic, about 150 million years ago.
“Solnhofen limestones in southern Germany are largely recognized as one of the most productive fossil conservation deposits known to date,” said Dr. Alexandra Fernandes, paleontologist of the Bavarian State collection for paleontology and geology, the Ludwig Maximilians-University and the American Museum of History Natural.
“The localities and beds found in the area between Solnhofen and Regensburg have been continuously explored for more than 200 years (throughout today), which gives an exceptional material at a prolific pace, and thus giving an overview of the end of the Jurassic.”
“The upper paleobiodiversity of wildlife assembly in the Global Solnhofen region is attributed to its original deposit framework in depressions in a shallow marine reef environment on the northern bank of the Ocean Tethys, so that this framework was nicknamed the fossil assembly of the Solnhofen archipelago in recent literature.”
A fragment of Spathagnathus roeperiThe Rostrum with Dupor de teeth was found during systematic excavations in the brunn career near the German city of Regensburg.
“The locality of Brunn represents the oldest locality of the Solnhofen complex, only one pterosaur having been described in this locality to date,” said paleontologists.
According to their phylogenetic analysis, Spathagnathus roeperi belonged to Gnathosaurinae, a small sub-group within the Pterosaur Ctenochasmatidae family.
The new flying reptile was also the sister species of the pterosaur ctenochasmatide Tacuadactylus Luciae from Uruguay.
“Solnhofen limestones are abundant in the fossil vertebrates of the late Jurassic, the pterosaurs is no exception,” said the researchers.
“In the recognized fullness of the pterosaurs in this assembly, although the remains of the cutenochasmatides are relatively abundant, the gnathosaurins are rare.”
Spathagnathus roeperi represents the oldest occurrence of a gnathosaurine and contributes to the paleoenvironmental stratigraphic range for gnathosaurinae in the overall fossil assembly of the Solnhofen archipelago.
“In addition, the new species adds to the known diversity of ctenochasmatides in the late Jurassic and underlines the importance of this early influence of pterosaurs pterodactyloids during this period,” concluded scientists.
Their article was published this month in the journal Veil.
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AE Fernandes and al. A new species and the first occurrence of Gnathosaurinae (Pterosauria) of the late Kimmeridgian of Brunn, Germany. Veilpublished online on June 6, 2025; DOI: 10.1007 / S12542-025-00725-0
