Ludodactylus

''Ludodactylus'' (meaning "play finger") is a genus of anhanguerid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Aptian stage) of what is now the Crato Formation of the Araripe Basin in Ceará, Brazil. The type and only species is ''L. sibbicki''. The generic name ''Ludodactylus'' refers to the fact that the animal had the combination of teeth and a ''Pteranodon''-like head crest, similar to many toy pterosaurs, and no such creature was known to exist until the discovery of ''Ludodactylus''. However, ''Ludodactylus'' is not the only pterosaur now known to possess these features, its very close relative ''Caulkicephalus'' is another example.

Etymology

The genus was named by Eberhard Frey ''et al.'' in 2003 and contains one known species, ''Ludodactylus sibbicki''. The name is derived from Latin ''ludus'', "play" and Greek ''daktylos'', "finger". ''Ludus'' refers to the fact, long lamented by paleontologists, that many toy pterosaurs combined teeth with a ''Pteranodon''-like head crest, while no such creature was known to exist — however, ''Ludodactylus'' shows exactly this combination of features. "Dactylus", in reference to the characteristic long wing finger, has been a common element in the names of pterosaurs, since the first known genus was named ''Pterodactylus''. The specific name "''sibbicki''" is an homage to the paleoartist John Sibbick.

Description

''Ludodactylus'' is based on holotype SMNK PAL 3828, a skull missing part of the head crest, that was removed from the plate before the fossil was illegally sold. Unlike other ornithocheirids (the group of which ''Ludodactylus'' was originally assigned to), it had no premaxillary crest on the snout, but did have a crest at the back of the skull. Frey ''et al.'' interpreted the deep mandible as a crest on the lower jaws. Trapped between the rami of the mandible is a yucca leaf; Frey suggested that the animal got it caught in its beak and unsuccessfully tried to dislodge it (the edge of the leaf is frayed), and then possibly died from starvation or a complication of starving. The skull would have been more than 66 centimeters (26 in) long.Frey, E., Martill, D., and Buchy, M. (2003). A new crested ornithocheirid from the Lower Cretaceous of northeastern Brazil and the unusual death of an unusual pterosaur. In: Buffetaut, E., and Mazin, J.-M. (eds.). ''Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs''. ''Geological Society Special Publication'' 217:56–63. .

Classification

In 2003, Frey ''et al.'' classified ''Ludodactylus'' in the family Ornithocheiridae. In 2007, Frey had reconsidered the validity of ''Ludodactylus'', suggesting that it may represent the same animal as ''Brasileodactylus'', and therefore a junior synonym. In 2014 however, Brian Andres and colleagues, in a large cladistic analysis of pterosaurs, found ''Ludodactylus'' to be slightly more closely related to ornithocheirids and anhanguerids than to ''Brasileodactylus''. In the analysis of Andres and colleagues, ''Ludodactylus'' is classified just outside Ornithocheiridae and Anhangueridae as a derived member of the more inclusive group Anhangueria. Their cladogram is shown on the left. In 2020, a different topology by Borja Holgado and Rodrigo Pêgas recovered ''Ludodactylus'' within the family Anhangueridae, more specifically to the subfamily Anhanguerinae, sister taxon to both ''Caulkicephalus'' and ''Guidraco''. This proves that it is indeed very closely related to the anhanguerids. Their cladogram is shown on the right.

Topology 1: Andres ''et al.'' (2014).

Topology 2: Holgado & Pêgas (2020).

See also

* List of pterosaur genera
* Timeline of pterosaur research

References

{{Portal bar, Paleontology, Brazil

Pteranodontoidea
Aptian life
Early Cretaceous pterosaurs of South America
Cretaceous Brazil
Fossils of Brazil
Crato Formation
Fossil taxa described in 2003