Rhamphorhynchus
Fala pessoal, prontos para desbravar os céus do Mesozoico?
Nesse post, iremos conhecer o Rhamphorhynchus, um gênero de pterossauros de cauda longa! Bora?
Esse é Rhampho, o Rhamphorhynchus!
Rhamphorhynchus é um dos mais clássicos pterossauros conhecidos pela ciência desde os primórdios da paleontologia. E não é para menos: ele tinha uma cauda longa com a ponta enrijecida, formando uma estrutura arredondada em forma de lanceta. Além disso, sua mandíbula era repleta de dentes afiados em forma de agulha, vinte na parte superior e quatorze na parte inferior. Quando as mandíbulas se fecham, os dentes se entrelaçam, maximizando o controle da presa.
E provavelmente o nosso amigo Rhampho curtia um bom sashimi! As mandíbulas de Rhamphorhynchus eram provavelmente usadas para capturar peixes. Enquanto ele se deslizava sobre a superfície da água, capturava sua presa e a impermeabilizava com os dentes. Que estratégia, não?
De fato, restos de peixes e cefalópodes são frequentemente encontrados no conteúdo abdominal de Rhamphorhynchus, bem como nos seus coprólitos (fezes fósseis). Contudo, ainda não está fora de questão que esse pterossauro também incluía alguns insetos na sua dieta (eita, que fome!).
Embora restos fósseis fragmentários possivelmente pertencentes a Rhamphorhynchus tenham sido encontrados na Inglaterra, Tanzânia e Espanha, os espécimes mais bem preservados provêm do calcário Solnhofen da Baviera, Alemanha. Muitos desses fósseis preservam não apenas os ossos, mas também impressões de tecidos moles, como as membranas das asas. Dentes espalhados que se acredita pertencerem a Rhamphorhynchus também foram encontrados em Portugal.
Qual era o tamanho desse bicho?
Rhamphorhynchus possui diversos registros. Contudo, maior espécime conhecido (BMNH 37002) mede 1,26 metros de comprimento e envergadura de 1,81 metros. Imagina só um bicho desse voando!
Tradicionalmente, a grande variação de tamanho entre os espécimes de Rhamphorhynchus tem sido considerada uma representação da variação das espécies. No entanto, num artigo de 1995, Bennett argumentou que estas “espécies” na verdade representam classes anuais de uma única espécie, Rhamphorhynchus muensteri , desde juvenis até adultos. Seguindo esta interpretação, Bennett encontrou várias mudanças notáveis que ocorreram em R. muensteri à medida que o animal envelhecia.
O Rhamphorhynchus juvenil tinha crânios relativamente curtos com olhos grandes, e as pontas desdentadas das mandíbulas, em forma de bico, eram mais curtas nos juvenis do que nos adultos, com as pontas arredondadas e rombas da mandíbula inferior eventualmente tornando-se delgadas e pontiagudas à medida que os animais cresciam. Um Rhamphorhynchus adulto também desenvolvia um forte “gancho” ascendente na extremidade da mandíbula inferior. O número de dentes permaneceu constante do juvenil ao adulto, embora os dentes se tornassem relativamente mais curtos e mais atarracados à medida que os animais cresciam, possivelmente para acomodar presas maiores e mais poderosas. As cinturas pélvica e peitoral fundiram-se à medida que os animais envelheciam, com fusão peitoral completa alcançada por volta de um ano de idade.
Ainda segundo Bennet (1995), o formato da palheta da cauda também mudava de acordo com a idade desse pterossauro. Nos juvenis, a palheta da cauda era menor e mais afilada, enquanto que nos adultos elas adquiriam a forma arredondada de palheta.
Classificação científica
Reino: Animalia
Filo: Chordata
Classe: Reptilia
Ordem: Pterosauria
Família: Rhamphorhynchidae
Gênero: Rhamphorhynchus
Espécie: Rhamphorhynchus muensteri (Goldfuss, 1831)
Dados do Pterossauro
Nome científico: Rhamphorhynchus muensteri (Goldfuss, 1831)
Época: Jurássico Superior (há 163,5 e 145 milhões de anos)
Registros: Alemanha, Inglaterra, Portugal, Espanha e Tanzânia
Tamanho: aprox. 1,81m de envergadura
Habitat: lagoas e recifes
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Referências Bibliográficas
Bennett, S. C. (1995). A statistical study of Rhamphorhynchus from the Solnhofen Limestone of Germany: Year-classes of a single large species”. Journal of Paleontology. 69 (3): 569–580.
Frey, E.; Tischlinger, H. (2012). “The Late Jurassic pterosaur Rhamphorhynchus, a frequent victim of the ganoid fish Aspidorhynchus?”. PLOS ONE. 7 (3): e31945.
Meyer, H. von. (1846). “Pterodactylus (Rhamphorhynchus) gemmingi aus dem Kalkschiefer von Solenhofen”. Palaeontographica. 1: 1–20.
Münster, G. Graf zu. (1830). “Nachtrag zu der Abhandlung des Professor Goldfuss über den Ornithocephalus Münsteri (Goldf.).” Bayreuth, 8 p.
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