Thalassodromidae (meaning "sea runners") is a group of

azhdarchoid Azhdarchoidea (International Phonetic Alphabet, , meaning "azhdarchid-like forms") is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Pterosaurs belonging to this group lived throughout the Early Cretaceous, Early and Late Cretaceous ...

pterosaurs Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the Order (biology), 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). Pterosau ...

from the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

(

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 ...

) of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. All known definitive members come from the

Romualdo Formation The Romualdo Formation is a geologic Lagerstätte, Konservat-Lagerstätte in northeastern Brazil's Araripe Basin where the states of Pernambuco, Piauí and Ceará come together. The geological formation, previously designated as the Romualdo Mem ...

, which include the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...

Thalassodromeus ''Thalassodromeus'' is a genus of pterosaur that lived in what is now Brazil during the Early Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about a hundred million years ago. The original skull, discovered in 1983 in the Araripe Basin of northeastern B ...

'', as well as ''

Tupuxuara ''Tupuxuara'' is a genus of thalassodromid pterosaur that lived during the Albian age of the Early Cretaceous, about 112 million years ago. Its remains were found in what is now the Romualdo Formation of the Santana Group in Brazil. ''Tupuxuara ...

'' and ''

Kariridraco ''Kariridraco'' is a genus of thalassodromid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous-aged Romualdo Formation, Brazil. The genus contains a single species, ''Kariridraco dianae''.. Discovery and naming Local workers in Ceará at some unknown location ...

''. Proposals of additional thalassodromid genera from the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

are controversial and have not been supported. The classification of Thalassodromidae is quite controversial and disputed. It was initially denominated Thalassodrominae, as a subfamily within the group

Tapejaridae Tapejaridae (from a Tupi language, Tupi word meaning 'the lord of the ways') is a Family (biology), family of azhdarchoid pterosaurs from the Cretaceous Period (geology), period. Members are currently known from Brazil, England, Hungary, Morocco, ...

. However, opposing studies regarding its placement have argued that its members were more closely related to

azhdarchids Azhdarchidae (from the Persian language, Persian word , , a dragon-like creature in Persian mythology) is a family (biology), family of pterosaurs known primarily from the Late Cretaceous Period, though an isolated vertebra apparently from an azh ...

and

dsungaripterid Dsungaripteridae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. They were robust pterosaurs with good terrestrial abilities and flight honed for inland settings, and were commonly interpreted as durophagous and possibly piscivorou ...

s, while also elevating it to family level. Though the relationship with tapejarids remains supported by many studies, it has been proposed that it is preferable to retain them as a distinct family for consistency of communication.

Classification

The classification of thalassodromids is controversial. Its initial members included ''

'' and ''

'', which were assigned initially to the family

by Brazilian paleontologists

Alexander 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 Period, i ...

and Diógenes de Almeida Campos. In 2007, the subfamily Thalassodrominae was coined by Kellner to group both members within Tapejaridae. However, a conflicting phylogenetic model emerged arguing that both ''Thalassodromeus'' and ''Tupuxuara'' were more closely related to the family

Azhdarchidae Azhdarchidae (from the Persian word , , a dragon-like creature in Persian mythology) is a family of pterosaurs known primarily from the Late Cretaceous Period, though an isolated vertebra apparently from an azhdarchid is known from the Early Cre ...

instead of the tapejarids. As early as 2003, paleontologist David Unwin created the group

Neoazhdarchia Azhdarchoidea ( , meaning " azhdarchid-like forms") is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Pterosaurs belonging to this group lived throughout the Early and Late Cretaceous periods, with one tentative member, '' Tendagu ...

to contain ''Tupuxuara'' and Azhdarchidae. This arrangement would later be supported by British paleontologists

David Martill {{Short pages monitor