page_title: Bellubrunnus
section_title: Wings
hierarchical_section_title: Bellubrunnus / Description / Wings
caption_attribution_description: Bellubrunnus under multiple UV regimes. Different filter and light combinations illuminate the bones and matrix differently providing greater clarity of some details. A selection are shown here for reference.
context_page_description: Bellubrunnus is an extinct genus of rhamphorhynchid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of southern Germany. It contains a single species, Bellubrunnus rothgaengeri. Bellubrunnus is distinguished from other rhamphorhynchids by its lack of long projections on the vertebrae of the tail, fewer teeth in the jaws, and wingtips that curve forward rather than sweep backward as in other pterosaurs.
context_section_description: In BSP–1993–XVIII–2, in both the left wing and the right wing the last finger bone or distal (fourth) phalanx bone ("wpx4") that supports the wing is curved, and preserved curving forward. The describers interpreted this as the natural position, assuming the third phalanx of the right wing finger ("wpx3") and most of the left wing finger had rotated 180° along their long axes relative to the fourth phalanges, as indicated by the orientation of the joint surfaces. Awaiting confirmation by a second specimen, the trait has not been formally indicated as an autapomorphy. Some other pterosaurs have curved distal phalanges, but in most cases the curvature is thought to have been the result of fractured bones or developmental problems specific to the individuals with this feature, and they always curve backwards. Although their exact function is unknown, curved wingtips, inducing instability by increased air resistance and turbulence, may have allowed Bellubrunnus to maneuver itself better in the air. They also may, in combination with a different orientation of the actinofibrils of the wing membrane, have stabilized the soft tissue flaps at the ends of the wings, which were expanded in most pterosaurs and may have been prone to fluttering.
caption: Holotype BSP–1993–XVIII–2 lit under multiple UV wavelengths
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