Illustration of Kariridraco by Júlia d'Oliveira
Kariridraco dianae is an extinct genus of Tapejarid pterosaur that lived in Brazil during the Early Cretaceous period.
Discovery and naming[]
Kariridraco dianae was described based on the holotype catalogued as MPSC R 1056, which was discovered in the Romualdo Formation of Brazil. The specimen consisted of 4 neck vertebrae and an almost complete skull fossil. The genus was named after the Kariri people of the Araripe Plateu, because it was also the same area the pterosaur remains where found. The specific name refers to Diana Prince, the alter ego of a DC comics superhero called Wonder Woman.
Phylogeny[]
Phylogenetic analysis recovered Kariridraco as a member of Thalassodrominae, a subfamily of Tapejaridae.
Paleobiology[]
Kariridraco probably lived in the early Albian of the Late Cretaceous Epoch. In the Romualdo Formation, Kariridraco would have coexisted with an enormous array of pterosaurs, from the gigantic Tropeognathus to the fairly small Unwindia. It would have also coexisted with dinosaurs like Irritator and Santanaraptor.