The phylogenetic position of the Pterosauria within the Archosauromorpha

In recent years the hypothesis that pterosaurs were the major sister-group of dinosaurs and a closely-linked hypothesis that pterosaurs evolved flight from the ground up have gained general acceptance. A cladistic analysis of the Archosauromorpha using characters presented by previous workers results in a single most parsimonious tree with the Pterosauria as the major sister-group of the Dinosauria. However, that sister-group relationship is supported only by a suite of hindlimb characters that are correlated with bipedal digitigrade locomotion in dinosaurs. In pterosaurs the characters have been interpreted as correlates of bipedal cursorial locomotion, arboreal leaping, or involvement of the hindlimb in the wing. The homology of those characters in dinosaurs and pterosaurs cannot be supported. Reanalysis of the data after exclusion of those hindlimb characters results in most parsimonious trees with the Pterosauria as the sister-group of the Erythrosuchidae + Proterochampsidae + Euparkeria + Archosauria, in that order. This sister-group relationship is supported by a diverse assemblage of functionally independent skeletal characters from all regions of the skeleton. The results of the analysis cast doubt on the hypothesis that pterosaurs evolved flight from the ground up. (C) 1996 The Linnean Society of London