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A small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous, the age of flying giants Martin-Silverstone, Witton, Arbour & Currie, 2016

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reconstruction credits: M. Witton

*This image is copyright of its original author

Figure 6. Speculative restoration of a 1.4 m wingspan azhdarchid, representing the atypically diminutive Late Cretaceous azhdarchoid specimen RBCM.EH.2009.019.0001, against a modern housecat (ca 300 mm tall at shoulder). All other Campanian and Maastrichtian azhdarchids are famous for being much larger, the biggest being as tall as giraffes and, even at their smallest, comparable in size to the largest extant flying birds. The pterosaur is restored here with anatomical characteristics and body proportions predicted for neoazhdarchian and azhdarchid azhdarchoid pterosaurs [30,42]. Reconstruction credits: M. Witton

Abstract:
"Pterosaur fossils from the Campanian–Maastrichtian of North America have been reported from the continental interior, but few have been described from the west coast. The first pterosaur from the Campanian Northumberland Formation (Nanaimo Group) of Hornby Island, British Columbia, is represented here by a humerus, dorsal vertebrae (including three fused notarial vertebrae), and other fragments. The elements have features typical of Azhdarchoidea, an identification consistent with dominance of this group in the latest Cretaceous. The new material is significant for its size and ontogenetic stage: the humerus and vertebrae indicate a wingspan of ca 1.5 m, but histological sections and bone fusions indicate the individual was approaching maturity at time of death. Pterosaurs of this size are exceedingly rare in Upper Cretaceous strata, a phenomenon commonly attributed to smaller pterosaurs becoming extinct in the Late Cretaceous as part of a reduction in pterosaur diversity and disparity. The absence of small juveniles of large species—which must have existed—in the fossil record is evidence of a preservational bias against small pterosaurs in the Late Cretaceous, and caution should be applied to any interpretation of latest Cretaceous pterosaur diversity and success."

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