''Iberodactylus'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of
pterodactyloid
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 ...
pterosaurs
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 to ...
belonging to the clade
Anhangueria
Anhangueria (or anhanguerians) is a group of pterosaurs belonging to the clade Pteranodontoidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods (Valanginian to Turonian stages), around 140 to 92.5 million years ...
, that during the
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous (geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous ( chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma.
Geology
Pr ...
lived in the area of present
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
. The
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...
is ''Iberodactylus andreui''.
History of discovery and naming

In the late 1980s, amateur paleontologist Javier Andreu discovered a pterosaur skull at the Los Quiñones site, west of
Obón
Obón is a municipality located in the Teruel (province), province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), the municipality has a population of 75 inhabitants.
References
in
Aragón
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sout ...
. At the time it represented the most complete discovery of pterosaur fossil material in Spain apart from the remains of ''
Prejanopterus''. In 2014, the find was reported in the scientific literature by José Antonio Ulloa-Rivas and identified as a member of the
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 fo ...
.
[Ulloa-Rivas, J.A. & Canudo, J.I. 2014. "New cranial remains of Ornithocheiroidea (Pterosauria) from the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of the Iberian Peninsula (Nuevos restos craneales de Ornithocheiroidea (Pterosauria) del Barremiense (Cretácico Inferior) de la Península Ibérica)". In: (Rodríguez, G.J.A. et alii, eds) ''New Insights on Ancient Life – XII Encuentro de Jóvenes Investigadores en Paleontología'' p 116–119]
In 2019, the type species, ''Iberodactylus andreui'', was named and described by Borja Holgado, Rodrigo Vargas Pêgas, José Ignacio Canudo, Josep Fortuny, Taissa Rodrigues, Julio Company and
Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner
Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner (born September 26, 1961) is a Brazilian geologist and paleontologist who is a leading expert in the field of studying pterosaurs. His research has focused mainly on fossil reptiles from the Cretaceous Perio ...
. The generic name combines a reference to
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a la ...
with a Greek δάκτυλος, ''daktylos'', meaning "finger", a common suffix in the names of pterosaurs, since the naming of ''
Pterodactylus
''Pterodactylus'' (from Greek () meaning 'winged finger') is an extinct genus of pterosaurs. It is thought to contain only a single species, ''Pterodactylus antiquus'', which was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying rept ...
''. The
specific name honors Andreu as discoverer. Because the name was published in an
electronic publication
Electronic publishing (also referred to as publishing, digital publishing, or online publishing) includes the digital publication of e-books, digital magazines, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. It also includes the edit ...
, its validity requires
Life Science Identifiers. These are 0174E98C-416B-4C49-AF63-2B42AF1E9EAB for the genus and 37FAC334-082A-4185-970E-7E7E13D5670C for the species.
[Borja Holgado, Rodrigo V. Pêgas, José Ignacio Canudo, Josep Fortuny, Taissa Rodrigues, Julio Company & Alexander W.A. Kellner, 2019, "On a new crested pterodactyloid from the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula and the radiation of the clade Anhangueria", ''Scientific Reports'' 9: 4940
]
The holotype, MPZ-2014/1, was found in a chalkstone layer of the
Blesa Formation dating from the
Barremian
The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma ( million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is pre ...
. It consists of a partial front snout with crest, containing a number of broken teeth and empty tooth sockets. The fossil is part of the collection of the ''
Museo de Ciencias Naturales de la Universidad de Zaragoza Museo may refer to:
* Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film
*Museo (Naples Metro)
Museo is a station on line 1 of the Naples Metro. It was opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. On ...
''.
Description
Size and distinguishing traits
The
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...
of ''Iberodactylus'' was estimated in 2019 by
extrapolating
In mathematics, extrapolation is a type of estimation, beyond the original observation range, of the value of a variable on the basis of its relationship with another variable. It is similar to interpolation, which produces estimates between know ...
the proportions of the related genus ''
Hamipterus'' of which skull-wing ratios are known. The extrapolations indicated a
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...
that measured between . From this it was concluded that the paired wings were about wide. This would make ''Iberodactylus'' the largest pterosaur found in the
Iberian peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
up to 2019.
The describing authors indicated two distinguishing traits. They are
autapomorphies
In phylogenetics, an autapomorphy is a distinctive feature, known as a derived trait, that is unique to a given taxon. That is, it is found only in one taxon, but not found in any others or outgroup taxa, not even those most closely related to t ...
, unique derived characters. The tip of the
premaxilla
The premaxilla (or praemaxilla) is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammal has ...
is relatively tall. The crest on the premaxilla has a front edge curving to the front under an angle of about 80 degrees.
Skull
The fossil skull fragment has a preserved length of and a height of . The snout or rostrum is somewhat expanded at the front. The palate is keeled on the midline and turns upwards at the front.
The snout bears a crest of which the base alone has been preserved. The front edge of the crest is positioned above the fifth tooth socket. The base of the crest is wide in side view, despite lacking its rear edge. The fracture in the fossil reveals that the bone wall is about thick, and the crest is filled with small bone struts called ''trabeculae''. The crest is triangular in cross-section. Its sides are covered by vertical ridges and troughs. These run parallel to the forward curvature of the crest. Because the crest, a plausible display structure, is relatively robust, the authors assumed that the specimen represents a male individual. The fossil resembles ''Hamipterus'' but in that latter genus, the snout is lower and the front edge of the crest straighter. On the base of the edge small holes are visible. Their edges seem to be too sharp for them to be natural foramina in the bone wall. It was suggested that they could be tunnels made by bone-eating larvae of beetles.
In 2014, it was assumed that they represented exit holes of a salt gland, unique for the entire Pterosauria.
The maxilla bears at least eight conical teeth. The teeth have an elliptical cross-section. They are positioned more laterally on the jaw. The teeth increase in size until the third tooth, which with a width of is twice as wide as the first tooth. The fourth tooth becomes abruptly smaller and is about as large as the first. The fifth tooth is larger and the sixth is about as wide as the third. The seventh and eight teeth again abruptly decline in size, being somewhat smaller than the first one.
Phylogeny
''Iberodactylus'' was, within the
Anhangueria
Anhangueria (or anhanguerians) is a group of pterosaurs belonging to the clade Pteranodontoidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods (Valanginian to Turonian stages), around 140 to 92.5 million years ...
, placed in the
clade Hamipteridae, named in the same 2019 article. It was recovered as the
sister species
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and ...
of ''Hamipterus''. The close affinity with a Chinese form would prove that the Anhangueria originated from the east of
Laurasia
Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pan ...
.
The
cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...
below follows a topology made by Rodrigo Pêgas and colleagues in 2019. They recovered ''Iberodactylus'' within the family Hamipteridae, as originally proposed in its description.
[Rodrigo V. Pêgas, Borja Holgado & Maria Eduarda C. Leal (2019) On ''Targaryendraco wiedenrothi'' gen. nov. (Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontoidea, Lanceodontia) and recognition of a new cosmopolitan lineage of Cretaceous toothed pterodactyloids, Historical Biology,
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q62519537
Pteranodontoids
Fossil taxa described in 2019