Name:
Arambourgiania
(Named after Camille Arambourg).
Phonetic: A-ram-bor-gian-ia.
Named By: Lev Nesov et al. - 1987.
Synonyms: Titanopteryx (preoccupied by an
fly in 1934).
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Azhdarchidae.
Species: A. philadelphiae (type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Uncertain due to incomplete fossil material,
but estimates range from 7 to 13 meter wingspan. The lower
estimates are more generally accepted today.
Known locations: Jordan - Phosphorite Unit Formation.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Cervical vertebra.
For
much of the early part of its scientific life the pterosaur Arambourgiania
was known
as Titanopteryx, however in 1987 Lev Nesov
was made aware that
the genus name was already being used by a fly. Under ICZN rules,
no two animals may share the same genus name. Nesov renamed the
specimen Arambourgiania in honour of Camille
Arambourg, who in
1954 was the first person to realise that the holotype specimen
belonged to a pterosaur. However Arambourg was still wrong in that he
thought the bone was a wing metacarpal. It would not be until 1975
that the bone would be correctly identified as a cervical vertebra by
Douglas A. Lawson.
When
the holotype was rediscovered in the late 1990's a more thorough
investigation was carried out by David Martill and Eberhard Frey, who
had attempted to find the holotype in back in 1995 but to no
avail. It was not until 1996 that they learned the holotype
specimen had been sold in 1969 and was subsequently donated to the
University of Jordan in 1973. Almost
immediately it was realised that the vertebra was not complete and was
missing the end from the posterior (rear portion). Taking this into
account, they
came up with an estimated length of seventy-eight centimetres. They
also interpreted the position as the fifth neck vertebra. In order to
get an idea of its size, Arambourgiania was then
compared to the
giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus.
The
neck vertebra of Arambourgiania was seventy-eight
centimetres long
compared to sixty-six centimetres of the same vertebra for
Quetzalcoatlus. This produced a scale ratio of
1.18 which was
then used to enlarge Quetzalcoatlus to gauge an
estimated wingspan.
The result was an estimated wingspan approaching thirteen meters
across for Arambourgiania. However further
studies for the total size
of Arambourgiania have since been carried out,
most of them revealing
smaller wingspans that reduce down to the seven metre mark.
Unfortunately
unless more fossil material can be discovered for Arambourgiania,
the
only way to gauge its size is to guess by comparing it to other
pterosaurs which in itself can be a problematic method of
reconstruction since this depends upon two seperate creatures being
similar to one another.
Further reading
- Titanopteryx philadelphiae nov. gen., nov. sp.
Pt�rosaurien g�ant
[Titanopteryx philadelphiae nov. gen., nov. sp.
Giant pterosaurian]. -
Contributions � la Stratigraphie et � la Pal�ontologie du Cr�tac� et du
Nummulitique de la Marge NW de la P�ninsule Arabique. Notes et M�moires
du Moyen Orient 7:229-234. - C. Arambourg - 1959.
- A reappraisal of Arambourgiania (Pterosauria,
Pterodactyloidea): One
of the world's largest flying animals. - N.Jb.Geol.Pal�ont.Abh.,
199(2): 221-247. - E. Frey & D. M. Martill - 1996.
- Arambourgiania philadelphiae: giant wings in
small halls. - The
Geological Curator, 6(8): 305-313. - L. Steel, D.M. Martill., J. Kirk,
A. Anders, R.F. Loveridge, E. Frey & J.G. Martin - 1997.
- Discovery of the holotype of the giant pterosaur Titanopteryx
philadelphiae Arambourg 1959, and the status of Arambourgiania
and
Quetzalcoatlus. - Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und
Pal�ontologie, Abh.
207(1): 57-76. - D. M. Martill, E. Frey, R. M. Sadaqah & H. N.
Khoury - 1998.
- A cervical vertebra of Arambourgiania philadelphiae
(Pterosauria,
Azhdarchidae) from the Late Campanian micaceous facies of the Coon
Creek Formation in McNairy County, Tennessee, USA. - Bulletin Alabama
Museum Natural History 33:94–103. - T. Lynn Harrell Jr, Michael A.
Gibson & Wann langston Jr. - 2016.
- Topotype specimens probably attributable to the giant azhdarchid
pterosaur Arambourgiania philadelphiae (Arambourg
1959). - Geological
Society, London, Special Publications. 455 (1): 159–169. - David M.
Martill & Markus Moser - 2018.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |