Yelaphomte

Yelaphomte (Allentiac, "beast of the air") is an extinct genus of non-pterodactyloid pterosaur from the late Norian–early Rhaetian-aged Quebrada del Barro Formation of Argentina.

PVSJ 914 was later fully described and named by Martínez et al. (2022) as a new genus and species, Yelaphomte praderioi, along with other pterosaur remains from the Quebrada del Barro Formation (including the related Pachagnathus).

PVSJ 914 was discovered in a horizon of reddish muddy sandstone 60 m below the top of the formation, beneath the unconformably overlying Cretaceous aged El Gigante Group.

[2] The broken snout tip and CT scanning revealed extensive pneumatic spaces in the premaxilla separated by intricate struts of bony trabeculae.

Pneumatic bones are characteristic of pterosaurs in general, but the complex array of trabeculae suggests an even greater degree of pneumatisation in Yelaphomte than normal.

[4] This analysis recovered Yelaphomte as a member of Raeticodactylidae, but couldn't resolve its relationships to Raeticodactylus and Pachagnathus beyond a polytomy of the three species due to a lack of overlapping material.

Although no diagnostic traits of Raeticodactylidae are present in the known material of Yelaphomte, a close relationship to Raeticodactylus is supported by its evenly spaced teeth, as well as similarities such as its crest and the presence of a diastema.

However, Martínez and colleagues concluded this was unlikely, as the high degree of fusion in its snout may be indicative of its maturity and suggests a small adult size—although they note that the rostrum and mandible bones of pterosaurs do fuse at a young age.

[2] Yelaphomte lived in a continental environment a long distance from the nearest coast, and was therefore almost certainly a terrestrial animal, compared to the various coastal Triassic pterosaurs found in the northern hemisphere.