Lonchodectes Microdon

''Lonchodectes'' (meaning "lance biter") was a genus of lonchodectid pterosaur from several formations dating to the Turonian (Late Cretaceous) of England, mostly in the area around Kent. The species belonging to it had been assigned to ''Ornithocheirus'' until David Unwin's work of the 1990s and 2000s.Kellner, A.W.A. (2003). Pterosaur phylogeny and comments on the evolutionary history of the group: In: Buffetaut, E., and Mazin, J.-M. (Eds.). ''Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs''. Geological Society Special Publication 217:105-137. 1-86239-143-2. Several potential species are known; most are based on scrappy remains, and have gone through several other generic assignments. The genus is part of the complex taxonomy issues surrounding Early Cretaceous pterosaurs from Brazil and England, such as ''Amblydectes'', '' Anhanguera'', ''Coloborhynchus'', and ''Ornithocheirus''.

History and species

Numerous species have been referred to this genus over time, and only those more widely connected with the genus are included here.

The type species, ''L. compressirostris'', is based on NHMUK 39410, a partial upper jaw from the Turonian-age Upper Cretaceous Upper Chalk near Kent. Richard Owen named in 1851 as a species of ''Pterodactylus'';Owen, R. (1851). Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Cretaceous Formations. ''The Palaeontographical Society'' 5(11):1-118. it was transferred to ''Ornithocheirus'' in 1870 by Harry Govier Seeley,Seeley, H.G. (1870). ''The Ornithosauria: an Elementary Study of the Bones of Pterodactyles''. Cambridge, 130 pp. before becoming the type species of ''Lonchodectes'' in Reginald Walter Hooley's 1914 review of ''Ornithocheirus''.Hooley, R.W. (1914). On the Ornithosaurian genus ''Ornithocheirus'' with a review of the specimens from the Cambridge Greensand in the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge. ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'', series 8, 78:529-557. Confusingly, this species was also long regarded, incorrectly, as the type species of ''Ornithocheirus''.

A variety of postcranial remains resembling those of Azhdarchoids from the Cambridge Greensand have been referred to ''Lonchodectes''; however, much of this material has since been referred to ''Ornithostoma''.Averianov, A.O. (2012). "''Ornithostoma sedgwicki'' – valid taxon of azhdarchoid pterosaurs." ''Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS'', 316(1): 40–49.

In 2019, the Brazilian palaeontologist Rodrigo V. Pêgas and colleagues suggested that the type specimen of ''Lonchodectes compressirostris'' could represent the same species as ''Cimoliopterus cuvieri''. They cautioned this is impossible to confirm until associated skull and mandible material is found.

Formerly assigned species

Hooley added two other species at this time, both of which had also been originally referred to ''Pterodactylus'', then to ''Ornithocheirus'': ''L. giganteus'', a Cenomanian-age jaw fragment from the Chalk of Kent;Bowerbank, J.S. (1846). On a New Species of Pterodactyl. Found in the Upper Chalk of Kent (P. giganteus). ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society'' 2:7–9. and ''L. daviesii'', another jaw fragment, from the Albian-age Gault Clay.Owen, R. (1874). ''A Monograph on the Fossil Reptilia of the Mesozoic Formations. 1. Pterosauria.'' ''The Palaeontographical Society Monograph'' 27:1–14.

''"Pterodactylus" sagittirostris'', based on NHMUK R.1823, a lower jaw fragment from the ?Valanginian-Hauterivian-age Lower Cretaceous Hastings Beds of East Sussex, ''"Ornithocheirus" platystomus'', ''"Ornithocheirus" machaerorhynchus'', and ''"O." microdon'' were assigned to ''Lonchodectes'' in a 2001 review by David Unwin of Cambridge Greensand pterosaurs. joining ''L. compressirostris'', ''L. giganteus'', ''L. platystomus'', and ''L. sagittirostris'' in his listing of valid species.Unwin, D.M. (2006). ''The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time.'' Pi Press:New York, p. 273. . However, ''L. giganteus'', ''L. machaerorhynchus'', and ''L. microdon'' have since been assigned to a new genus, ''Lonchodraco'', while ''L. sagittirostris'' has been renamed ''Serradraco''. ''L. platystomus'' may be a species of ''Amblydectes''. In 2020, a review of Lonchodectidae was conducted by paleontologist Alexander Averianov, where he reassigned the species ''L. machaerorhynchus'' to the genus '' Ikrandraco'' due to similarities in rostral morphology, as ''I. machaerorhynchus'', and he also considered ''L. microdon'' a junior synonym of ''machaerorhynchus''. Therefore, ''Lonchodectes'' is limited to its type species, ''L. compressirostris''.

Classification

In Peter Wellnhofer's 1991 ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs'', written before Unwin's work, the species were included within ''Ornithocheirus'' (because of ''L. compressirostris'' being thought to be the type species), and are in fact the main fossils illustrated to represent the genus. In 2003, Unwin placed them in their own family, Lonchodectidae, which he grouped within the group Ctenochasmatoidea, while in 2006, he placed the family Lonchodectidae within the Azhdarchoidea, the group that includes the tapejarids and azhdarchids.

The cladogram below is a topology recovered by Longrich and colleagues in 2018. In their analysis, they placed ''Lonchodectes'' within the family Lonchodectidae as the sister taxon of ''Lonchodraco''. Contrary to previous analyses, Longrich and colleagues placed Lonchodectidae (including ''Lonchodectes'') within the more inclusive group Ornithocheiromorpha.

Paleobiology

''Lonchodectes'' had long jaws with many short teeth, and the jaws were compressed vertically, like "a pair of sugar tongs with teeth".Unwin, D.M. (2006). ''The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time.'' Pi Press: New York, p. 251. . Related species (including several taxa formerly included within the genus) had crests on their lower jaws, so the same probably also applied to ''L. compressirostris''.Unwin, D.M. (2006). ''The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time.'' Pi Press: New York, p. 106. .

See also

* List of pterosaur genera
* Timeline of pterosaur research

References

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Pteranodontoidea
Late Cretaceous pterosaurs of Europe
Taxa named by Reginald Hooley
Fossil taxa described in 1914
Turonian genera