Named Bakilib playedThe newly identified species is the first filter-feeding pterosaur from the tropics.
Artistic reconstruction of a filter-feeding pterosaur. Barikibu Waridza in the Early Cretaceous Romualdo Formation; the spinosaurid dinosaur in the background represents the supposed predator that hunted Barikibu Waridza. Image credit: Julio Lacerda.
Bakilib played lived in the tropical latitudes of the supercontinent Gondwana during the Early Cretaceous period, approximately 113 million years ago.
The ancient flying reptile belongs to the Pterodaustrini, a group of pterosaur clade. Ctenochasmatids.
“Ctenochasmatidae is a clade of pterodactyloid pterosaurs that flourished during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous,” said Dr Aline Ghilardi from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte and colleagues.
“Recent discoveries have shed light on the diversity and ecological adaptation of this group, especially through the study of new fossil specimens from different geographic regions and geological periods.”
“These pterosaurs exhibit a remarkable evolutionary trajectory, characterized by diverse morphological adaptations and a wide geographic distribution.”
“Recent discoveries in China, South America and Europe have greatly expanded our understanding of their ecology and highlighted the dynamic evolutionary history of this lineage.”
“Ctenochasmatids flourished mainly from the Late Jurassic to the Barremian, but gradually declined by the late Early Cretaceous,” they added.
“Little is known about later species and how their lineages moved and diversified between Laurasia and Gondwana.”
According to researchers, Bakilib played had extremely elongated jaws and dense, brush-like rows of teeth, similar to a ctenoid pterosaur. Pterodaustro but differ in cross-section and distance between teeth.
“Within Ctenochasmatidae, the subclade Ctenochasmatinae is distinguished by an elongated snout and numerous small teeth, adaptations associated with their unique feeding strategies,” they said.
“The evolutionary trajectory of this group has been illuminated by discoveries such as Liaodactylus primusfrom the Upper Jurassic of western Liaoning, China, demonstrating a marked ecological transition from fishing to filter-feeding within the clade.”
“Extreme morphology can be found in Pterodaustro ginazuiwhich has on its lower jaw a thousand very elongated, whalebone-like teeth.”
“Extraordinary morphology Pterodaustro indicates hyperspecialization towards filtering.”
Fossilized remains of two Bakilib played individuals were discovered one piece and its calcareous nodule counterpart from the Romualdo Formation in the Araripe Basin in Brazil.
The nodules also contained four fossil fish, likely early Cretaceous teleosts. Tarrias.
“Pterosaurs and fishes are preserved in wackestone nodules rich in unoriented ostracods and foraminifera, similar to other nodules from the Romualdo Formation,” the scientists said.
“The co-occurrence of densely packed, semi-articulated and fragmented pterosaur bones (mostly aligned in a subparallel orientation) together with an assemblage of similarly aligned fish supports the interpretation of this assemblage as a regurgilite, a mass of indigestible material expelled by a predator through the mouth.”
Bakilib played had a mosaic of features in common with both its South American and European relatives.
“Its unique combination of anatomical features—especially highly elongated jaws, a dense dentition with long and thin teeth, subquadrangular crowns in cross section, and acrodont-like dental implantation on both jaws—sheds new light on the evolutionary trajectory of filter-feeding pterosaurs,” the authors say.
“The exceptional preservation of the specimen within the regurgilite, together with the fish remains located along the head, provides rare direct evidence of trophic interactions in the Early Cretaceous Araripe paleoecosystem.”
“This discovery not only fills a paleobiogeographic gap in the distribution of Ctenochasmatinae, but also highlights the importance of poorly studied, long-kept specimens for revealing key evolutionary and paleoecological insights.”
“Bakiribu “adds to growing evidence that the Araripe Basin serves as an important window into Early Cretaceous biodiversity, ecological complexity, and faunal exchange at a continental scale.”
teams paper published November 10, 2025 in the magazine Scientific reports.
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RV Pegasus etc.. 2025. Regurgilite reveals a new filter-feeding pterosaur from the Santana group. scientific representative 15, 37336; two: 10.1038/s41598-025-22983-3
