Maehary

Maehary Temporal range: Late Triassic, (Norian) ~225.42 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Skull reconstruction
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Archosauromorpha
Clade:	Archosauriformes
Clade:	Archosauria
Genus:	†Maehary Kellner et al., 2022
Species:	†M. bonapartei
Binomial name
†Maehary bonapartei Kellner et al., 2022

Maehary (meaning "one who looks to the sky" in Guaraní) is a genus of archosaur from the Late Triassic (Norian) Caturrita Formation of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The genus contains a single species, M. bonapartei, known from a partial skull and fragmentary postcrania.^[1]

Discovery and naming

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Maehary type locality at Linha São Luiz Site, Brazil

The Maehary holotype specimen, CAPPA/UFSM 0300, was discovered between 2002 and 2005 in layers of the Caturrita Formation (Linha São Luiz Site, Candelária Sequence, Santa Maria Supersequence) near Faxinal do Soturno, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The holotype consists of a partial skull, vertebral centra, and a fragmentary scapula. Another specimen, UFRGS-PV-0769-T, was also assigned to the genus, consisting of a left maxilla. The maxilla was originally described in 2010 as belonging to the supposed basal pterosaur Faxinalipterus.^[2] However, when Faxinalipterus was reinterpreted as a lagerpetid in 2022, the bone was removed from its hypodigm and reidentified as belonging to Maehary.^[1]

In 2022, Kellner et al. described Maehary bonapartei as a new genus and species of pterosauromorph. The generic name, "Maehary" is derived from the Guarani-Kaiowa phrase "Ma’ehary", roughly translating to "who looks to the sky", in reference to the pterosauromorph affinities of the taxon. The specific name, "bonapartei", honors the Argentine paleontologist José F. Bonaparte.^[1]

A later analysis has suggested that Maehary may actually represent a gracilisuchid member of the clade Pseudosuchia, rather than a pterosauromorph.^[3]

Classification

Kellner et al. (2022) recovered Maehary as the earliest diverging member of Pterosauromorpha. The results of their phylogenetic analysis are shown below:^[1]

Archosauria	Pseudosuchia Pan-Aves Aphanosauria Ornithodira Dinosauromorpha Pterosauromorpha Maehary Lagerpetidae Faxinalipterus Lagerpeton Ixalerpeton Kongonaphon PVSJ883 Dromomeron gregorii Dromomeron romeri Dromomeron gigas Pterosauria

In the 2023 description of the lagerpetid Venetoraptor, Müller et al. corrected some of the phylogenetic characters that led to the recovery of Maehary as a pterosauromorph. The updated analysis recovered it as a derived member of the suchian clade Gracilisuchidae, as the sister taxon to Gracilisuchus. The authors did not discuss the updated phylogenetic position. The results of their phylogenetic analysis are shown below.^[3]

Archosauria	Pseudosuchia Phytosauria Nundasuchus Suchia Ornithosuchidae Aetosauriformes Erpetosuchidae Gracilisuchidae Turfanosuchus Yonghesuchus Gracilisuchus Maehary Ticinosuchus Mandasuchus Paracrocodylomorpha Pan-Aves Spondylosoma Aphanosauria Ornithodira Dinosauromorpha Pterosauromorpha Lagerpetidae Pterosauria

References

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Avemetatarsalia / Pan-Aves

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Clade: Archosauria
Sauropsida see Sauropsida Archosauromorpha see Archosauromorpha Avemetatarsalia see below↓ Avemetatarsalia

Avemetatarsalia	†Incertovenator? †Mambachiton †Aphanosauria Incertovenator? Dongusuchus Spondylosoma Teleocrater Yarasuchus Ornithodira †Pterosauromorpha Maehary? Lagerpetidae Dromomeron Faxinalipterus? Ixalerpeton Kongonaphon Lagerpeton Scleromochlus? Venetoraptor Pterosauria see Pterosauria Dinosauromorpha †Lagosuchus †Marasuchus †Nyasasaurus? †Saltopus †Silesauridae? Agnosphitys Asilisaurus Gamatavus Lewisuchus Pisanosaurus? Soumyasaurus Technosaurus? Sulcimentisauria Amanasaurus Diodorus Eucoelophysis Ignotosaurus Kwanasaurus Lutungutali Sacisaurus Silesaurus Dinosauria †Ornithischia see Ornithischia Saurischia †Alwalkeria †Chindesaurus †Daemonosaurus †Eodromaeus †Saltopus? †Tawa †Herrerasauria Chindesaurus? Daemonosaurus? Tawa? Caseosaurus? Herrerasauridae Gnathovorax Herrerasaurus Sanjuansaurus Staurikosaurus Eusaurischia †Sauropodomorpha see Sauropodomorpha Theropoda see Theropoda includes birds

• See also: Ornithoscelida
• Phytodinosauria
• Category