Eopterosauria is a group of basal

pterosaur Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 ...

s from the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...

, which form their own clade. The term was first used in Andres ''et al.'' (2014) to include ''

Preondactylus ''Preondactylus'' is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs from the Late Triassic (late Norian)Barrett, P. M., Butler, R. J., Edwards, N. P., & Milner, A. R. (2008). Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas. ''Zitteliana'', 61-107/ref> that ...

'', ''

Austriadactylus ''Austriadactylus'' is a genus of "rhamphorhynchoid" pterosaur. The fossil remains were unearthed in Late Triassic (middle Norian ageBarrett, P. M., Butler, R. J., Edwards, N. P., & Milner, A. R. (2008). Pterosaur distribution in time and space: ...

'', ''

Peteinosaurus ''Peteinosaurus'' ( ; meaning "winged lizard") was a prehistoric genus of pterosaur. It lived in the late Triassic period in the late Norian age (about 221 to 210 million years ago), and at a wingspan of around , was one of the smallest and earli ...

'' and

Eudimorphodontidae Eudimorphodontidae is an extinct family of early pterosaurs from the Late Triassic (Late Carnian to Late Rhaetian age) of Europe.Barrett, P. M., Butler, R. J., Edwards, N. P., & Milner, A. R. (2008). Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an a ...

. Inside the group were two other new clades, Preondactylia, which included ''Preondactylus'' and ''Austriadactylus'', and

Eudimorphodontoidea Eopterosauria is a group of basal pterosaurs from the Triassic, which form their own clade. The term was first used in Andres ''et al.'' (2014) to include ''Preondactylus'', ''Austriadactylus'', ''Peteinosaurus'' and Eudimorphodontidae. Inside th ...

, to include Eudimorphodontidae and

Raeticodactylidae Raeticodactylidae is a family of eudimorphodontoid eopterosaurian pterosaurs that lived in Switzerland during the Late Triassic. The family includes '' Caviramus'', and the type genus '' Raeticodactylus'', which are both known from the Kössen F ...

. Eopterosauria was defined as "the least inclusive clade containing ''Preondactylus buffarinii'' and ''Eudimorphodon ranzii''". The specimen BSP 1994, previously assigned to ''

Eudimorphodon ''Eudimorphodon'' was a pterosaur that was discovered in 1973 by Mario Pandolfi in the town of Cene, Italy and described the same year by Rocco Zambelli. The nearly complete skeleton was retrieved from shale deposited during the Late Triassic (m ...

'', was named the separate taxon ''

Austriadraco ''Austriadraco'' is a genus of pterosaur living during the Late Triassic in the area of present Austria. Its only species—''Austriadraco dallavecchiai''—was previously attributed to ''Eudimorphodon'', and its closest relatives may have been ' ...

'' in 2015, and assigned to the new family

Austriadraconidae Caviramidae is a group of basal pterosaurs. It was erected by paleontologist Matthew G. Baron in 2020. It was defined as the least inclusive clade that includes ''Arcticodactylus cromptonellus'' and ''Caviramus schesaplanensis''. The members of ...

, but further classification was not described. The following phylogenetic analysis follows the topology of Andres ''et al.'' (2014). In a 2020 study of early pterosaur interrelationships carried out by Matthew G. Baron, no evidence was found to support the existence of Eopterosauria as an early diverging clade within Pterosauria. Instead, the results of this later analyses suggested that most pterosaurs fall into either

Caviramidae Caviramidae is a group of basal pterosaurs. It was erected by paleontologist Matthew G. Baron in 2020. It was defined as the least inclusive clade that includes ''Arcticodactylus cromptonellus'' and '' Caviramus schesaplanensis''. The members o ...

or Zambellisauria, with only a small number of taxa falling in a more 'basal' position. The analyses presented by Baron (2020) supported previous hypotheses presented in research that had been published in the previous two years.Britt, B. B.; Dalla Vecchia, F. M.; Chure, D. J.; Engelmann, G. F.; Whiting, M. F.; Scheetz, R. D. (2018). "Caelestiventus hanseni gen. et sp. nov. extends the desert-dwelling pterosaur record back 65 million years". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 2 (9): 1386–1392. doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0627-y. ISSN 2397-334X. .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18061161 Pterosaurs Late Triassic life