Rexarthuria

{{Short description|Genus of pterosaur}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = Early Cretaceous, {{Fossil range|135}} | image = Rexarthuria proximal humerus.jpg | image_caption = Proximal end of the left holotype humerus | display_parents = 2 | genus = Rexarthuria | parent_authority = Thomas & McDavid, 2026 | species = cliftii | authority = (Mantell, 1844) | synonyms = *''Palæornis cliftii'' Mantell, 1844 *''Pterodactylus cliftii'' (Mantell, 1844) *''Ornithocheirus clifti'' (Mantell, 1844) *''Pterodactylus ornis'' Giebel, 1847 *''Pterodactylus silvestris'' Owen, 1859 }} '''''Rexarthuria''''' is an extinct genus of azhdarchoid pterosaur known from parts of a single humerus (upper arm bone) found in the early Cretaceous (Valanginian age) of the upper Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation in England. The genus contains a single species, '''''Rexarthuria cliftii''''', originally placed in the genus ''Palaeornis'', which is preoccupied by a bird.

==Discovery and naming==

thumb|left|Distal end of the left holotype humerus "''Palaeornis''" ''cliftii'' was one of the earliest pterosaur discoveries in England and has a long and complicated nomenclatural history.<ref name=palaeornis>{{cite journal |title=On pterodactyloid diversity in the British Wealden (Lower Cretaceous) and a reappraisal of ''"Palaeornis" cliftii'' Mantell, 1844 |year=2009 |last1=Witton |first1=Mark P. |last2=Martill |first2=David M. |last3=Green |first3=Michael |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=676–686 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2008.12.004 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1271890 }}</ref> It was originally identified as a prehistoric bird by Gideon Mantell (1837, 1844), but was recognized as a pterosaur by Christoph Gottfried Andreas Giebel (1847) and Richard Owen (1846, 1859), who named it ''Pterodactylus ornis'' and ''P. silvestris'' respectively.<ref>{{cite book |last=Giebel |first=C.G. |date=1847 |title=Die Vogel und Amphibien der Vorwelt |series=Fauna der Vorwelt |volume=2 |location=Leipzig}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Owen |first=R. |date=February 1846 |title=On the supposed Fossil Bones of Birds from the Wealden |journal=Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London |volume=2 |pages=96-102 |doi=10.1144/GSL.JGS.1846.002.01-02.30}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Owen |first=R. |date=1859 |title=Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Cretaceous formations. Supplement no. I |publisher=Palaeontographical Society |location=London |pages=19}}</ref> Richard Lydekker (1888) and Reginald Walter Hooley (1914) tentatively referred it to ''Ornithocheirus'', although the holotype NHM UK 2353/2353a does not overlap with the holotype of the ''Ornithocheirus'' type species.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lydekker |first=Richard |date=1888 |title=Catalogue of the Fossil Reptilia and Amphibia in the British Museum (Natural History), Part I. The Orders Ornithosauria. Crocodilia, Dinosauria, Squamata. Rhynchocephalia and Protorosauria |pages=309 |publisher=Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History) |location=London |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/61848}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hooley |first=Reginald Walter |date=1914 |title=On the ornithosaurian genus ''Ornithocheirus'', with a review of the specimens from the Cambridge Greensand in the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History |volume=13 |issue=78 |pages=529-557 |doi=10.1080/00222931408693521}}</ref> Peter Wellnhofer (1978) referred ''Palaeornis clifti'' to Ornithocheiridae ''incertae sedis''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wellnhofer |first=P. |date=1978 |title=Pterosauria |series=Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie, Teil 19 |publisher=Gustav Fischer Verlag |location=Stuttgart and New York |pages=82}}</ref>

Mark P. Witton et al. (2009) re-examined the type specimen and realized that "''P.''" ''clifti'' is not an ornithocheirid, referring it to Lonchodectidae based on similarities to humeri assigned to ''Lonchodectes'' by Hooley (1914).<ref name=palaeornis/> Averianov (2012, 2014) referred the taxon to Azhdarchoidea indeterminate in his re-assessment of ''Ornithostoma''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Averianov |first1=AO |year=2012 |title=''Ornithostoma sedgwicki'' – valid taxon of azhdarchoid pterosaurs |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences |volume=316 |pages=40–49 |url=https://www.zin.ru/journals/trudyzin/doc/vol_316_1/TZ_316_1_Averyanov.pdf }}</ref><ref name=Averianov-2014>{{cite journal |doi=10.3897/zookeys.432.7913|issue=432|doi-access=free|title=Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria)|year=2014|last1=Averianov|first1=Alexander|journal=ZooKeys|pages=1–107|pmid=25152671|pmc=4141157}}</ref> In 2025, Thomas and McDavid recovered it as a sister taxon of Tapejaridae.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Henry N. |last2=McDavid |first2=Skye N. |date=2025-12-31 |title=Enter the dragons: the phylogeny of Azhdarchoidea (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) and the evolution of giant size in pterosaurs |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=23 |issue=1 |article-number=2569368 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2025.2569368 |issn=1477-2019}}</ref>

The name ''Palaeornis'' had previously been used for a genus of parakeet (now considered a synonym of ''Psittacula'') by Vigors in 1825.<ref name=vigors1825>{{cite journal |last=Vigors |first=N.A. |date=1825 |title=Sketches in ornithology; or observations on the leading affinities of some of the more extensive groups of birds |journal=Zoological Journal |volume=2 |pages=37-69}}</ref> In 1848, Mantell used the name "Palæornithis" to refer to supposed bird bones from the Wealden Group.<ref name=mantell1848>{{cite journal|author=Mantell, G.A.|date=14 June 1848|title=A brief notice of organic remains recently discovered in the Wealden Formation|journal=The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London|volume=5|pages=37–43|doi=10.1144/GSL.JGS.1849.005.01-02.14}}</ref> In 2009, Mark Witton and colleagues considered "Palæornithis" as a possible replacement name for "''P.''" ''cliftii''.<ref name=palaeornis/> In 2026, Thomas and McDavid redescribed the holotype of "''P.''" ''cliftii'' and proposed ''Rexarthuria'' ({{lit|King Arthur}}) as a replacement genus name. They stated that "Palæornithis" was never explicitly mentioned as an intended replacement name or unambiguously based on the same specimen, so it cannot be treated available in accordance with the ICZN article 12.1.<ref name"T&M2026">{{Cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Emily M.R. |last2=McDavid |first2=Skye N. |date=2026-05-26 |title=The earliest European Azhdarchoid: reappraisal of "''Palaeornis''" ''cliftii'' Mantell, 1844 from the Wealden of Cuckfield, U.K. |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |doi=10.1080/02724634.2026.2664783 |issn=0272-4634}}</ref> The specific name honours William Clift, the curator of the Hunterian Museum.<ref name=palaeornis/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Early Cretaceous pterosaurs of Europe Category:Azhdarchoidea Category:Taxa named by Gideon Mantell Category:Fossil taxa described in 2026