''Lonchodraco'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
lonchodraconid
Lonchodectidae or LonchodraconidaePêgas, R.V., Holgado, B., Leal, M.E.C., 2019. "''Targaryendraco wiedenrothi'' gen. nov. (Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontoidea, Lanceodontia) and recognition of a new cosmopolitan lineage of Cretaceous toothed pter ...
pterodactyloid
Pterodactyloidea ( ; derived from the Greek words ''πτερόν'' (''pterón'', for usual ''ptéryx'') "wing", and ''δάκτυλος'' (''dáktylos'') "finger") is one of the two traditional suborders of pterosaurs ("wing lizards"), and contai ...
pterosaur
Pterosaurs are 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 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earli ...
from the Late
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
of southern
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The genus includes species that were previously assigned to other genera.
Discovery and naming

In 1846,
James Scott Bowerbank
James Scott Bowerbank (14 July 1797 – 8 March 1877) was a British Natural history, naturalist and palaeontologist.
Biography
Bowerbank was born in Bishopsgate, London, and succeeded in conjunction with his brother to his father's distillery, ...
named and described some remains found in a chalk pit at
Burham
Burham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,251, decreasing to 1,195 at the 2011 Census. The village is near the Medway towns.
The histor ...
near
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
in
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, as a new species of ''
Pterodactylus
''Pterodactylus'' (from ) is a genus of extinct 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 reptile and one of the first prehis ...
'': ''Pterodactylus giganteus''. The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
means "the gigantic one" in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
. The same pit generated remains of ''
Pterodactylus cuvieri''.
In 1848, Bowerbank published a
histological
Histology,
also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...
study of the bone structure of ''P. giganteus''.
At the time, the
British Association Code of 1843 allowed to change names if they were inappropriate. In 1850,
Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist and paleontology, palaeontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkabl ...
, considering the species not to have been particularly large, and renamed it into ''Pterodactylus conirostris''; the specific name meaning "cone-snouted", which was based on the conical snout of specimen NHMUK PV 39412. However, after insistent objections by Bowerbank, Owen retracted this name in 1851 when he described the finds in more detail.
In 1914
Reginald Walter Hooley
Reginald Walter Hooley (5 September 1865 – 5 May 1923) was a businessman and amateur paleontologist, collecting on the Isle of Wight. He is probably best remembered for describing the dinosaur ''Iguanodon atherfieldensis'', now ''Mantellisaurus ...
assigned the species to a new genus ''
Lonchodectes
''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 ''Orni ...
'', "the lance biter", as a ''Lonchodectes giganteus''.
In 2013,
Taissa Rodrigues and
Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner concluded that the
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...
of ''Lonchodectes'', ''Lonchodectes compressirostris'', was a ''
nomen dubium
In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application.
Zoology
In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...
''. Therefore, they created a new genus ''Lonchodraco'', combining Greek λόγχη, ''lonchē'', "lance", with Latin ''draco'', "dragon". ''Pterodactylus giganteus'' was made the type species of ''Lonchodraco'', resulting in a ''Lonchodraco giganteus''. Two other species previously assigned to ''Lonchodectes'' were moved to the new genus, resulting in a ''Lonchodraco machaerorhynchus'' and a ''Lonchodraco(?) microdon''. The question mark in the latter name indicates that the authors were uncertain about the correctness of the assignment.
Rodrigues and Kellner considered NHMUK PV 39412 to be the
lectotype
In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...
of ''Lonchodraco giganteus'', after a choice by
Peter Wellnhofer
Peter Wellnhofer (born Munich, 1936) is a German paleontologist at the Bayerische Staatssammlung fur Paläontologie in Munich. He is best known for his work on the various fossil specimens of ''Archaeopteryx'' or "Urvogel", the first known bird. ...
in 1978. It was found in a layer of the
Chalk Formation
The Chalk Group (often just called the Chalk) is the lithostratigraphic unit (a certain number of rock strata) which contains the Upper Cretaceous limestone succession in southern and eastern England. The same or similar rock sequences occur ac ...
, dating from the
Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...
-
Turonian
The Turonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS' geologic timescale, the second age (geology), age in the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch, or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the Upper Cretaceous series (stratigraphy), ...
. It consists of the front of a snout, the front of a pair of lower jaws, a piece of a
scapulocoracoid The scapulocoracoid is the unit of the pectoral girdle that contains the coracoid and scapula.
The coracoid itself is a beak-shaped bone that is commonly found in most vertebrates with a few exceptions.
The scapula is commonly known as the ''shoulde ...
, the upper parts of a humerus and an ulna, and a part of a wing finger phalanx.

Also in 1869, Seeley informally named "Ptenodactylus microdon".
In 1870, he formally named it ''Ornithocheirus microdon'', "small tooth",
Hooley (1914) transferred this species to ''Lonchodectes'' to form the new combination ''Lonchodectes microdon''.
Its holotype, CAMSM B54486, has its provenance in the Cambridge Greensand and consists of the front of a snout. The type specimen of ''Ornithocheirus oweni'' Seeley 1870, CAMSM B 54439, was synonymized with ''microdon'' by Unwin (2001), and Rodrigues & Kellner (2013) agreed with this synonymy.
In 1869,
Harry Govier Seeley
Harry Govier Seeley (18 February 1839 – 8 January 1909) was a British paleontologist.
Early life
Seeley was born in London on 18 February 1839, the second son of Richard Hovill Seeley, a goldsmith, and his second wife Mary Govier. When his fa ...
named ''Ptenodactylus machaerorhynchus'',
[Seeley, H.G., 1869, ''Index to the fossil remains of Aves, Ornithosauria, and Reptilia, from the Secondary System of Strata arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge''. Deighton, Bell and Co., Cambridge, xxiii + 143 pp] at the same time disclaiming the name which makes it invalid by modern standards. In 1870, Seeley had realised that the generic name ''Ptenodactylus'' had been preoccupied and renamed the species into ''
Ornithocheirus
''Ornithocheirus'' (from Ancient Greek "ὄρνις", meaning bird, and "χεῖρ", meaning hand) is a pterosaur genus known from fragmentary fossil remains uncovered from sediments in the United Kingdom and possibly Morocco.
Several species ha ...
machaerorhynchus''.
[Seeley, H.G., 1870, ''The Ornithosauria: an elementary study of the bones of pterodactyls, made from fossil remains found in the Cambridge Upper Greensand, and arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge''. Deighton, Bell, and Co., Cambridge, xii + 135 pp] The specific name means "sabre snout" in Greek. In 1914 Hooley renamed it into ''Lonchodectes machae
rhynchus''.
Its holotype, CAMSM B54855, was near
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
found in a layer of the
Cambridge Greensand
The Cambridge Greensand is a geological unit in England whose strata are earliest Cenomanian in age. It lies above the erosive contact between the Gault Formation and the Chalk Group in the vicinity of Cambridgeshire, and technically forms the l ...
dating from the Cenomanian but containing reworked fossils from the
Albian
The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/s ...
. It consists of the rear end of a
symphysis
A symphysis (, : symphyses) is a fibrocartilaginous fusion between two bones. It is a type of cartilaginous joint, specifically a secondary cartilaginous joint.
# A symphysis is an amphiarthrosis, a slightly movable joint.
# A growing together o ...
of the lower jaws.
However, in his review of Lonchodectidae, Averianov (2020) assigned ''Lonchodraco machaerorhynchus'' to ''
Ikrandraco'' due to similarities in rostral morphology, as ''I. machaerorhynchus'', and he also declared ''Lonchodraco microdon'' (including ''P. oweni'') a junior synonym of ''machaerorhynchus''. Thus, ''Lonchodraco'' is limited to the type species ''L. giganteus''.
Description

Rodrigues & Kellner treated ''Lonchodraco'' as a
clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
, which thus could possess
synapomorphies
In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to ...
, shared derived traits, setting the clade apart from related groups. They established one of these: the tooth sockets are elevated relative to the palate and lower jaw edge. Also a unique combination of themselves not unique traits was present. The tooth sockets in the front of the jaws are small, with a diameter of no more than four millimetres. These sockets do not vary significantly in size. The distance between the tooth sockets about equals their diameter. The midline ridge on the palate is high. A crest is present below the lower jaws.
Bowerbank estimated ''P. giganteus'' had a
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...
of about eight to nine feet. Rodrigues & Kellner established two autapomorphies of ''Lonchodraco giganteus''. Below the front of the lower jaws a short blade-like crest is present. There is a density of about six tooth sockets per three centimetres of jaw edge. There is a unique combination of traits: the snout bears a crest; the front part of the snout is rounded; the front part of the lower jaws is rounded; the margins of the front tooth sockets diverge.
Classification
In 2013, Brazilian paleontologists Rodrigues & Kellner assigned ''Lonchodraco'' to a family called
Lonchodraconidae, which was not defined as a clade and of which ''Lonchodraco'' was the only member. Later in their analysis however, Rodrigues & Kellner considered the definition of Lonchodraconidae to be more or less synonymous to that of
Lonchodectidae
Lonchodectidae or LonchodraconidaePêgas, R.V., Holgado, B., Leal, M.E.C., 2019. "''Targaryendraco wiedenrothi'' gen. nov. (Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontoidea, Lanceodontia) and recognition of a new cosmopolitan lineage of Cretaceous toothed pter ...
, however, they stated that ''
Lonchodectes
''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 ''Orni ...
'' is a ''nomen dubium'' and therefore should not be included in the group. In their
cladistic
Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...
analysis, they concluded that the three species of ''Lonchodraco'' formed a cluster, but it proved impossible to obtain a precise position for it because their inclusion in the dataset made the tree largely collapse into a
polytomy
An internal node of a phylogenetic tree is described as a polytomy or multifurcation if (i) it is in a rooted tree and is linked to three or more child subtrees or (ii) it is in an unrooted tree and is attached to four or more branches. A tree ...
containing, apart from the three species, all Pterodactyloidea and even the
Rhamphorhynchidae
Rhamphorhynchidae is a group of early pterosaurs named after '' Rhamphorhynchus'', that lived in the Late Jurassic. The family Rhamphorhynchidae was named in 1870 by Harry Govier Seeley.Seeley, H.G. (1870). "The Orithosauria: An Elementary Study ...
.
A topology recovered by Longrich and colleagues in 2018 placed ''Lonchodraco'' within the family Lonchodectidae as the sister taxon of ''Lonchodectes'', with the family being placed within the larger group
Ornithocheiromorpha
Ornithocheiromorpha (from Ancient Greek, meaning "bird hand form") is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods (Valanginian to Turonian stages ...
.
[Longrich, N.R., Martill, D.M., and Andres, B. (2018)]
"Late Maastrichtian pterosaurs from North Africa and mass extinction of Pterosauria at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary."
''PLoS Biology'', 16(3): e2001663. However, in several recent studies, including Pêgas ''et al.'' (2019) and Holgado & Pêgas (2020), the term Lonchodraconidae is used, and ''Lonchodraco'' is recovered within this group, sister taxon to ''Ikrandraco''.
[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, ]
Topology 1: Longrich ''et al.'' (2018).
Topology 2: Pêgas ''et al.'' (2019).
See also
*
List of pterosaur genera
This list of pterosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera that have ever been included in the order Pterosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considere ...
*
Timeline of pterosaur research
This timeline of pterosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and Biological taxonomy, taxonomic revisions of pterosaurs, the famed flying reptiles of the Mesozoic Era (ge ...
References
{{Portal bar, Paleontology, United Kingdom
Pteranodontoidea
Albian genus first appearances
Cenomanian genera
Turonian genus extinctions
Early Cretaceous pterosaurs of Europe
Late Cretaceous pterosaurs of Europe
Cretaceous England
Fossils of England
Fossil taxa described in 2013
Taxa named by Alexander Kellner