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Neopterodactyloidea
Azhdarchoidea (or azhdarchoids) is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea, more specifically within the group Ornithocheiroidea. Pterosaurs belonging to this group lived throughout the Early and Late Cretaceous periods, with one tentative member, ''Tendaguripterus'', that lived in the Late Jurassic period. The largest azhdarchoids include members of the family Azhdarchidae, examples of these are ''Quetzalcoatlus'', ''Hatzegopteryx'', and ''Arambourgiania''. The Azhdarchoidea has been recovered as either closely related to the Ctenochasmatoidea, as the sister taxon of the Pteranodontoidea within the Ornithocheiroidea, or within the Tapejaroidea, which in turn was also within the Ornithocheiroidea. Classification Azhdarchoidea was given a phylogenetic definition by David Unwin in 2003. Unwin defined the group as the most recent common ancestor of ''Quetzalcoatlus'' and '' Tapejara'', and all its descendants.Unwin, D. M., (2003). "On the phylogeny and evolutionar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eoazhdarcho
''Eoazhdarcho'' is a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid pterosaur named in 2005 by Chinese paleontologists Lü Junchang and Ji Qiang. The type and only known species is ''Eoazhdarcho liaoxiensis''. The fossil was found in the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. Etymology The genus name, ''Eoazhdarcho'', combines a Greek ''eos'', "dawn" with the name of the genus ''Azhdarcho'', with the implication it was an early related form of the latter. The specific name, ''liaoxiensis'', refers to the ancient region Liaoxi. Description ''Eoazhdarcho'' is based on holotype GMN-03-11-02, a partial skeleton and lower jaw, and is distinguished from other pterosaurs by the proportions of its bones. The metacarpals are very elongated but the cervical vertebrae and hind limbs are not. It was relatively small by azhdarchoid standards, with a wingspan of about 1.6 meters (5.2 feet). Classification The describers first assigned ''Eoazhdarcho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiodactylus
''Radiodactylus'' (meaning "radio finger") is an extinct genus of non-azhdarchid azhdarchoid pterosaur known from the Early Cretaceous period of what is now Texas, southern United States. It contains a single species, ''Radiodactylus langstoni''. Discovery ''Radiodactylus'' is known solely from its holotype, SMU 72547, a nearly complete left humerus first described by Phillip Murry ''et al.'' (1991).Murry, P.A., Winkler, D.A. & Jacobs, L.L., 1991, "An azhdarchid pterosaur humerus from the Lower Cretaceous Glen Rose Formation of Texas", ''Journal of Paleontology'' 65(1): 167–170 The specimen is well preserved in three dimensions with no apparent crushing. The humerus lacks only portions of the proximal end and anterior end of the deltopectoral crest, and has a fracture in the mid-shaft area where it is very slightly rotationally distorted. ''Radiodactylus'' was first named by Brian Andres and Timothy S. Myers in 2013 and the type species is ''Radiodactylus langstoni''. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaoyangopteridae
Chaoyangopteridae (or chaoyangopterids) is a family of pterosaurs within the larger group Azhdarchoidea. Chaoyangopterids lived mostly during the Early Cretaceous period, though possible members, '' Microtuban'', '' Xericeps'' and ''Argentinadraco'', may extend the fossil range to the Late Cretaceous. History The clade Chaoyangopteridae was first defined in 2008 by Lü Junchang and David Unwin as: "'' Chaoyangopterus'', '' Shenzhoupterus'', their most recent common ancestor and all taxa more closely related to this clade than to '' Tapejara'', ''Tupuxuara'' or ''Quetzalcoatlus''". Based on neck and limb proportions, it has been suggested they occupied a similar ecological niche to that of azhdarchid pterosaurs, though it is possible they were more specialized as several genera occur in Liaoning, while azhdarchids usually occur by one genus in a specific location. Description Chaoyangopterids are distinguished from other pterosaurs by several traits of the nasoantorbital fenestr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microtuban
''Microtuban'' is an extinct genus of azhdarchoid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of northern Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue .... Discovery ''Microtuban'' is known only from a partially preserved skeleton lacking the skull, holotype SMNK PAL 6595. It was acquired from a local fossil dealer by the ''Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe'' and was, as can be deduced from the qualities of the stone matrix, collected in the locality of Hjoula, Hjoûla in a marine layer of the Sannine Formation, dating to the early Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, about 99.6–96 mya (unit), million years ago. The fossil dealer however, indicated it came from a quarry at nearby Hâqel. Regardless, it is only the second pterosaur fossil found in Lebanon a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithocheiroidea
Ornithocheiroidea (or ornithocheiroids) is a group of pterosaurs within the extinct suborder Pterodactyloidea. They were typically large pterosaurs that lived from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods (Valanginian to Maastrichtian stages), with fossil remains found all over the world except Antarctica. Ornithocheiroids were the most advanced group of pterosaurs, as the group includes the clade Azhdarchoidea, of which its members lived until the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous, around 66 million years ago. Notable pterosaurs from this group include the pteranodontians ''Pteranodon'' and '' Nyctosaurus'', the ornithocheirid ''Ornithocheirus'', the anhanguerid '' Tropeognathus'', as well as the azhdarchids '' Hatzegopteryx'' and '' Quetzalcoatlus''. Classification The name Ornithocheiroidea was originally defined as an apomorphy-based taxon by Christopher Bennett in 1994. It was given a relationship-based definition in 2003 by Alexander Kellner, who defined it as the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pterodactyloidea
Pterodactyloidea (derived from the Greek words ''πτερόν'' (''pterón'', for usual ''ptéryx'') "wing", and ''δάκτυλος'' (''dáktylos'') "finger" meaning "winged finger", "wing-finger" or "finger-wing") is one of the two traditional suborders of pterosaurs ("wing lizards"), and contains the most derived members of this group of flying reptiles. They appeared during the middle Jurassic Period, and differ from the basal (though paraphyletic) rhamphorhynchoids by their short tails and long wing metacarpals (hand bones). The most advanced forms also lack teeth, and by the late Cretaceous, all known pterodactyloids were toothless. Many species had well-developed crests on the skull, a form of display taken to extremes in giant-crested forms like '' Nyctosaurus'' and '' Tupandactylus''. Pterodactyloids were the last surviving pterosaurs when the order became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period, together with the non-avian dinosaurs and most marine reptiles. " Pter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tapejara (pterosaur)
''Tapejara'' (from a Tupi word meaning "the old being") is a genus of Brazilian pterosaur from the Cretaceous Period (Santana Formation, dating to about 127 to 112 million years ago). ''Tapejara'' crests consisted of a semicircular crest over the snout, and a bony prong which extended back behind the head. It was a small pterosaur, with a wingspan of approximately . Species and classification The type species and only one currently recognized as valid by most researchers, is ''T. wellnhoferi''. The specific name honors German paleontologist Peter Wellnhofer. Two larger species, originally named ''Tapejara imperator'' and ''Tapejara navigans'', were later classified in the genus ''Tapejara''. However, several studies have shown that ''T. imperator'' and ''T. navigans'' are significantly different from ''T. wellnhoferi'' and therefore were reclassified into new genera. The species ''T. imperator'' was given its own genus, ''Tupandactylus'', by Alexander Kellner and Diogenes de A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tapejaroidea
Tapejaroidea (or tapejaroids) is a group of pterosaurs belonging to the clade Ornithocheiroidea. Tapejaroids lived from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods, with one possible member, ''Tendaguripterus'', extending the fossil range to the Late Jurassic period. Tapejaroidea contains two groups, the Dsungaripteridae and the Azhdarchoidea, which in turn includes the azhdarchids, the group that contains some of the largest flying animals. The group was named by Brazilian paleontologist Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner in 1996. Classification Tapejaroidea was named by paleontologist Alexander Kellner from Brazil in 1996, and in 2003 it was given a phylogenetic definition by Kellner himself as the most recent common ancestor of ''Dsungaripterus'', '' Tapejara'' and ''Quetzalcoatlus'', and all their descendants. Tapejaroidea, in Kellner's 2003 study, was recovered as the sister taxon of the Pteranodontoidea, both within the group Ornithocheiroidea, and consisting of the groups Dsungarip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pteranodontoidea
Pteranodontoidea (or pteranodontoids, from Greek meaning "toothless wings") is an extinct clade of ornithocheiroid pterosaurs from the Early to Late Cretaceous (early Valanginian to late Maastrichtian stages) of Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America. It was named by Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner in 1996. In 2003, Kellner defined the clade as a node-based taxon consisting of the last common ancestor of '' Anhanguera'', ''Pteranodon'' and all its descendants. The clade Ornithocheiroidea is sometimes considered to be the senior synonym of Pteranodontoidea, however it depends on its definition.Unwin, D. M., (2003): On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs. pp. 139-190. — ''in'' Buffetaut, E. & Mazin, J.-M., (eds.): ''Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs''. Geological Society of London, Special Publications 217, London, 1-347 Brian Andres (2008, 2010, 2014) in his analyses, converts Ornithocheiroidea using the definition of Kellner (2003) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ctenochasmatoidea
Ctenochasmatoidea is a group of early pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Their remains are usually found in what were once coastal or lake environments. They generally had long wings, long necks, and highly specialized teeth. Evolutionary history The earliest known ctenochasmatoid remains date to the Late Jurassic Kimmeridgian age. Previously, a fossil jaw recovered from the Middle Jurassic Stonesfield Slate formation in the United Kingdom, was considered the oldest known. This specimen supposedly represented a member of the family Ctenochasmatidae,Buffetaut, E. and Jeffrey, P. (2012). "A ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Stonesfield Slate (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) of Oxfordshire, England." ''Geological Magazine'', (advance online publication) though further examination suggested it belonged to a teleosaurid stem-crocodilian instead of a pterosaur. Ecology Most ctenochasmatoids were aquatic or semi-aquatic pterosaurs, possessing large webbed hindfeet and long to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arambourgiania
''Arambourgiania'' is an extinct genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period (Maastrichtian stage) of Jordan, and possibly the United States.Harrell, T. Lynn Jr.; Gibson, Michael A.; Langston, Wann Jr. (2016). "A cervical vertebra of ''Arambourgiania philadelphiae'' (Pterosauria, Azhdarchidae) from the Late Campanian micaceous facies of the Coon Creek Formation in McNairy County, Tennessee, USA" ''Bull. Alabama Mus. Nat. Hist.'' 33:94–103 ''Arambourgiania'' was among the largest members of its family, the Azhdarchidae, and it is also one of the largest flying animals ever known. The incomplete left ulna of the "Sidi Chennane azhdarchid" from Morocco may have also belonged to ''Arambourgiania''. History of discovery In the early 1940s, a railway worker during repairs on the Amman- Damascus railroad near Russeifa found a two foot long fossil bone. In 1943 this was acquired by the director of a nearby phosphate mine, Amin Kawar, who brought it to the atten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hatzegopteryx
''Hatzegopteryx'' (" Hațeg basin wing") is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur found in the late Maastrichtian deposits of the Densuş Ciula Formation, an outcropping in Transylvania, Romania. It is known only from the type species, ''Hatzegopteryx thambema'', named by Buffetaut ''et al.'' in 2002 based on parts of the skull and humerus. Additional specimens, including a neck vertebra, were later placed in the genus, representing a range of sizes. The largest of these remains indicate it was among the biggest pterosaurs, with an estimated wingspan of . Unusually among giant azhdarchids, ''Hatzegopteryx'' had a very wide skull bearing large muscular attachments; bones with a spongy internal texture instead of hollow; and a short, robust, and heavily muscled neck measuring long, which was about half the length of other azhdarchids with comparable wingspans, and was capable of withstanding strong bending forces. ''Hatzegopteryx'' inhabited Hațeg Island, an island situated in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
