Dearc

The holotype of Dearc, NMS G.2021.6.1-4, was found in 2017 by Amelia Penny in the Lealt Shale Formation and consists of a three-dimensionally preserved skeleton preserved in articulation in a slab of limestone (separated into four pieces for preparation). The specimen preserves most of the body with the exception of the end of the tail, most of the hindlimbs, parts of the wing and the very tip of the beak. The specimen was found on the east coast of the peninsula of Trotternish, part of the Isle of Skye in north-west Scotland, and the rock slab removed to the University of Edinburgh. The fossil was prepared by Nigel Larkin. It is to be displayed by National Museums Scotland. In 2022, the type species Dearc sgiathanach was named and described by Natalia Jagielska, Michael O’Sullivan, Gregory F. Funston, Ian B. Butler, Thomas J. Challands, Neil D.L. Clark, Nicholas C. Fraser, Amelia Penny, Dugald A. Ross, Mark Wilkinson and Stephen Louis Brusatte. The name is derived from the Scottish Gaelic language and has a double meaning. It can be simultaneously translated as "winged reptile" and "reptile from Skye", as dearc means "reptile" and sgiathanach (from sgiathan "small wing") means "winged", an element that also appears in the Gaelic name of the Isle of Skye (), often interpreted as meaning "The Winged Island". ==Description==

Size and Dorygnathus'')|right The wingspan could not be directly measured for Dearc as several phalanges of the wingfinger were missing, in particular the very tip and a central portion of the wing. However, an estimate could be made based on comparison with better sampled taxa, in this case Rhamphorhynchus and Dorygnathus. Using the proportions of Rhamphorhynchus, an estimated wingspan between 2.2 meters (based on skull length) and 3.8 meters (based on humerus length) was recovered. Estimates based on the humerus length of Dorygnathus give an estimated wingspan of 1.9 meters. These results already make Dearc one of the largest known Jurassic pterosaurs, larger than the largest Dorygnathus (1.69 meters wingspan) and smaller among non-pterodactyloids only than a large rhamphorhynchid specimen from Ettling in Germany, consisting of two possible neck vertebrae, which may belong to the genus Rhamphorhynchus. The larger interpretation is favored by the authors for a series of reasons including the well established ontogenetic series of Rhamphorhynchus, phylogenetic proximity. ==Classification==

The phylogenetic analysis conducted by Jagielska et al. (2022) for Dearc included characters from several independent publications as well as entirely new ones, while also excluding those that are only known from very young animals or known to vary greatly with age. The resulting tree recovered Dearc to lie within the Rhamphorhynchinae, specifically in the tribe Angustinaripterini, including Angustinaripterus and Sericipterus. These results are displayed in the cladogram below: ==References==