Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...

Bakiribu - its a fish...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Two suggestions: (1) Lets hear what Pegas et al. have to say in defence of their interpretation. (2) Let a couple of palaeoichthyologists examine the fossil - I'm sure we would all be happy to accept their conclusions...

Why bother? No amount of histology is going to turn Bakiribu back into a pterosaur. The comparative morphology clearly demonstrates Bakiribu is a fish. The key question is: how did Pegas et al make this mistake in the first place? Did no one alert them to their error before publication?

Aidachar, Sultanuvaisia, Gwawinapterus... another three fishy pterosaurs, to add to Belonochasma and Bakiribu. You would think that authors might learn lessons from these mistakes, but evidently not... the excellent book 'Being Wrong' by Kathryn Schultz might explain why.

'Suggesting' suggests there may be doubt - there isn't any. Its a fish.

Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...

Its a fish...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...

There is something fishy about Bakiribu
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...

There is something fishy about Bakiribu
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...

There is something fishy about Bakiribu
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...

There is something fishy about Bakiribu
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...

There is something fishy about Bakiribu
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...

There is something fishy about Bakiribu
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...

There is something fishy about Bakiribu
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...

There is something fishy about Bakiribu
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Will it be in the Natural History section or Fantasy and Science Fiction?

Same place, same time, same morphology (once the erroneous interpretations are corrected) - its Rhamphodactylus. Is anyone surprised? No, me neither.

Diopecephalus kochi holotype SMF R404

Would be nice if it were real, but almost certainly a composite. Fakes like these are common and have a long history with Archaeoraptor and Luchibang perhaps the most notorious examples.

Why not ask Dave Martill - david.martill@port.ac.uk ?

Rab and I are huge fans of Rudi's work and have commissioned several paintings from him. Uniquely, on this occasion, we asked for early drafts to be 'even more dramatic'. The result - a fantastic piece of art that will surely become iconic. Stay tuned pterofans there is more exciting stuff to come.

Its Lucky time. September 5th, 2025, 16:00.