title: A Reappraisal of the Purported Gastric Pellet with Pterosaurian Bones from the Upper Triassic of Italy.
abstract: A small accumulation of bones from the Norian (Upper Triassic) of the Seazza Brook Valley (Carnic Prealps, Northern Italy) was originally (1989) identified as a gastric pellet made of pterosaur skeletal elements. The specimen has been reported in literature as one of the very few cases of gastric ejecta containing pterosaur bones since then. However, the detailed analysis of the bones preserved in the pellet, their study by X-ray microCT, and the comparison with those of basal pterosaurs do not support a referral to the Pterosauria. Comparison with the osteology of a large sample of Middle-Late Triassic reptiles shows some affinity with the protorosaurians, mainly with Langobardisaurus pandolfii that was found in the same formation as the pellet. However, differences with this species suggest that the bones belong to a similar but distinct taxon. The interpretation as a gastric pellet is confirmed.
authors.affiliation: Mesozoic Research Group, Institut Català de Paleontologia 'Miquel Crusafont' (ICP), C/ Escola Industrial 23, E-08201 Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain.|Department of Geology, Universitat de València, C/ Doctor Moliner 50, E-46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Borja
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holgado
authors.affiliation: Mesozoic Research Group, Institut Català de Paleontologia 'Miquel Crusafont' (ICP), C/ Escola Industrial 23, E-08201 Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: Fabio Marco
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Dalla Vecchia
authors.affiliation: Mesozoic Research Group, Institut Català de Paleontologia 'Miquel Crusafont' (ICP), C/ Escola Industrial 23, E-08201 Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fortuny
authors.affiliation: Centro Fermi, Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro di Studi e Ricerche "Enrico Fermi", Piazza del Viminale 1, 00184 Rome, Italy.|The 'Abdus Salam' International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Multidisciplinary Laboratory, via Beirut 31, I-34014 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bernardini
authors.affiliation: Centro Fermi, Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro di Studi e Ricerche "Enrico Fermi", Piazza del Viminale 1, 00184 Rome, Italy.|The 'Abdus Salam' International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Multidisciplinary Laboratory, via Beirut 31, I-34014 Trieste, Italy.|Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tuniz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D025061:Dinosaurs / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005580:Fossils; D007558:Italy; D012104:Reptiles / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012863:Skeleton / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013045:Species Specificity; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography