The ‘Solnhofen Limestone’ beds of the Southern Franconian Alb, Bavaria, southern Germany, have for centuries yielded important pterosaur specimens, most notably of the genera Pterodactylus and Rhamphorhynchus. Here we describe a new genus of non-pterodactyloid pterosaur based on an extremely well preserved fossil of a young juvenile: Bellubrunnus rothgaengeri (gen. et sp. nov.).

Methodology/Principal Findings

The specimen was examined firsthand by all authors. Additional investigation and photography under UV light to reveal details of the bones not easily seen under normal lighting regimes was completed.

Conclusions/Significance

This taxon heralds from a newly explored locality that is older than the classic Solnhofen beds. While similar to Rhamphorhynchus, the new taxon differs in the number of teeth, shape of the humerus and femur, and limb proportions. Unlike other derived non-pterodacytyloids, Bellubrunnus lacks elongate chevrons and zygapophyses in the tail, and unlike all other known pterosaurs, the wingtips are curved anteriorly, potentially giving it a unique flight profile.

Citation: Hone DWE, Tischlinger H, Frey E, Röper M (2012) A New Non-Pterodactyloid Pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of Southern Germany. PLoS ONE 7(7): e39312. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039312

Editor: Leon Claessens, College of the Holy Cross, United States of America

The specimen was found in summer 2002 during an investigation of the Brunn quarry by Monika Rothgaenger, who was at the time in charge of the privately organised scientific excavation in cooperation with the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology, Munich and the Solnhofen Museum, Bavaria. The specimen was subsequently prepared by freelance preparator Martin Kapitzke in Stuttgart before coming to the Solnhofen Museum in 2003. While permanently housed in the Solnhofen Museum as specimen BSP–1993–XVIII–2 (formerly curated as BSP XVIII–VFKO–A12), the material is owned by Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology, Munich, Bavaria, Germany (BSP). See Figure 1.

Figure 1. Holotype specimen of Bellubrunnus BSP XVIII–VFKO–A12.

Scale bare 1 cm. Full page width.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039312.g001

Locality, Geological Setting and Stratigraphy

The fossil lagerstätte of brunn.

The small village of Brunn is situated in Upper Palatinate, Eastern Bavaria, 25 km northwest of the city of Regensburg on the westernmost rim of the Southern Franconian Alb. The Brunn quarry is a small stone pit at the “Kohlstatt locality”, between the villages of Brunn and Wischenhofen, which was previously quarried for road building materials. Starting around 1990 some well-preserved fossils were discovered by collectors, and the first scientific excavations took place soon afterwards. These yielded many fossil plants and numerous invertebrate and vertebrate taxa. The Brunn quarry is now a protected site reserved for geological research only (Geological map of Bavaria 1:25 000, sheet 6937, Laber and sheet 6837, Kallmünz).

Methods

The speimen was described primarily under normal lighting regimes and examined with and without a light microscope and hand lens. Additional examination and photographs were then taken under UV lights by H.T.

For a general introduction to the methods used here to visualise vertebrate fossils in ultraviolet-light (UV) light  . For UV investigation of the specimen here we predominantly used UVA lamps with a wavelength of 365–366 nanometers. The use of a variety of different filters allows selective visualisation of some fine structures. A series of experiments led to the determination of the optimal filter combination, the displacement, intensity, and incident angle of the ultraviolet lamps (e.g. see Figure 2). Documentation via ultraviolet-light photography was executed by means of analogue photography on slide film as well as by digital photography.

Figure 2. Bellubrunnus under multiple UV regimes.

Different filter and light combinations illuminate the bones and matrix differently providing greater clarity of some details. A selection are shown here for reference. Full page width.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039312.g002

Figure 3. Line drawing of the holotype of Bellubrunnus.
Abbreviations as follows for this and, where appropriate, subsequent figures: cdv, caudal vertebrae; chv, chevron; co, coracoid; cp, carpus; cs, cristospine; cr, cervical rib; cv, cervical vertebrae; dr, dorsal rib; dv, dorsal vertebrae; fb, fibula; fe, femur; g, gastralium; hu, humerus; il, ilium; ish, ischium; mc, metacarpal; md, manual digit; mn, manus; pb, pubis; pd, pedal digit; ppb, prepubis; ptd, pteroid; r, ribs; rad, radius; sc, scapula; sk, skull; st, sternum; ul, ulna; wmc, wing metacarpal; wpx, wing phalanx. Single column width.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039312.g003