Tapejara (from a Tupi word meaning "the lord of the ways"[1]) is a genus of Brazilianpterosaur from the Cretaceous Period (Santana Formation, dating to about 127 to 112 million years ago). Tapejara crests consisted of a semicircular crest over the snout, and a bony prong which extended back behind the head. It was a small pterosaur, with a wingspan of approximately 1.23–1.3 metres (4.0–4.3 ft).[2]
The type species and only one currently recognized as valid by most researchers, is T. wellnhoferi. The specific name honors German paleontologist Peter Wellnhofer. Two larger species, originally named Tapejara imperator and Tapejara navigans, were later classified in the genus Tapejara. However, several studies have shown that T. imperator and T. navigans are significantly different from T. wellnhoferi and therefore were reclassified into new genera. The species T. imperator was given its own genus, Tupandactylus, by Alexander Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos.[3] Unwin and Martill found that T. imperator and T. navigans belong in the same genus, and named them Ingridia imperator and I. navigans, respectively. This genus name honored Wellnhofer's late wife Ingrid.[4]
Because Tupandactylus was named first, it retained priority over the name Ingridia. To complicate matters, both the name Tupandactylus and Ingridia used the former Tapejara imperator as their type species.[5] The scientists who described Tupandactylus did not name a Tupandactylus navigans (but instead suggested it was synonymous to Tupandactylus imperator), and Tapejara navigans was not formally reclassified as a distinct species of Tupandactylus until 2011.[6]
Cast
The cladogram below follows a phylogenetic analysis by Kellner, the describer of Tapejara, and colleagues in 2019. They recovered Tapejara within the Tapejarini (a tribe within the family Tapejaridae), sister taxon to three other genera: Europejara, Caiuajara, and Tupandactylus.[7]
Comparisons between the scleral rings of Tapejara and modern birds and reptiles suggest that it may have been cathemeral, active throughout the day at short intervals.[8]
^Eck, K.; Elgin, R.A.; Frey, E. (2011). "On the osteology of Tapejara wellnhoferi KELLNER 1989 and the first occurrence of a multiple specimen assemblage from the Santana Formation, Araripe Basin, NE-Brazil". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 130 (2): 277–296. doi:10.1007/s13358-011-0024-5.
^Kellner, A.W.A.; Campos, D.A. (2007). "Short note on the ingroup relationships of the Tapejaridae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea". Boletim do Museu Nacional. 75: 1–14.
^Unwin, D. M. and Martill, D. M. (2007). "Pterosaurs of the Crato Formation." In Martill, D. M., Bechly, G. and Loveridge, R. F. (eds), The Crato Fossil Beds of Brazil: Window into an Ancient World. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge), pp. 475–524.
