19-519: Eupterodactyloidea (meaning "true Pterodactyloidea ") is an extinct group of pterodactyloid pterosaurs that existed from the latest Late Jurassic to the latest Late Cretaceous periods ( Tithonian to Maastrichtian stages). Eupterodactyloids have been found on all continents except Antarctica . Eupterodactyloidea was named by S. Christopher Bennett in 1994 as an infraorder of the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Bennett defined it as an apomorphy -based clade . However, in 2010, Brian Andres re-defined
38-543: A Tupi word meaning "the lord of the ways" ) is a genus of Brazilian pterosaur from the Cretaceous Period ( Santana Formation , dating to about 127 to 112 million years ago). Tapejara crests consisted of a semicircular crest over the snout, and a bony prong which extended back behind the head. It was a small pterosaur, with a wingspan of approximately 1.23–1.3 metres (4.0–4.3 ft). The type species and only one currently recognized as valid by most researchers,
57-1472: A branch-based definition for Eupterodactyloidea, making them very similar in content. Haopterus gracilis Piksi barbarulna Tethydraco regalis Pteranodon longiceps [REDACTED] Pteranodon sternbergi Alamodactylus byrdi Volgadraco bogolubovi Cretornis hlavaci Alcione elainus Simurghia robusta Muzquizopteryx coahuilensis Barbaridactylus grandis Nyctosaurus lamegoi Nyctosaurus nanus Nyctosaurus gracilis [REDACTED] Hongshanopterus lacustris Lonchodraco giganteus Lonchodectes compressirostris Boreopterus cuiae Zhenyuanopterus longirostris Nurhachius ignaciobritoi Liaoxipterus brachyognathus Istiodactylus sinensis Istiodactylus latidens Aetodactylus halli Cimoliopterus dunni Cimoliopterus cuvieri Guidraco Ludodactylus [REDACTED] Cearadactylus Brasileodactylus Anhangueridae [REDACTED] Ornithocheiridae Bennettazhia oregonensis Tapejara wellnhoferi Europejara olcadesorum Vectidraco daisymorrisae Caiuajara dobruskii Tupandactylus navigans Tupandactylus imperator [REDACTED] Bakonydraco galaczi [REDACTED] "Huaxiapterus" benxiensis "Huaxiapterus" corollatus Eopteranodon lii Huaxiapterus jii Sinopterus dongi Pterodactyloidea Pterodactyloidea (derived from
76-1247: A different type of analysis have found that this basic division into primitive (archaeopterodactyloid) and advanced (eupterodactyloid) species may not be correct. Beginning in 2014, Steven Vidovic and David Martill constructed an analysis in which several pterosaurs traditionally thought of as archaeopterodactyloids closely related to the ctenochasmatoids may have been more closely related to ornithocheiroids , or in some cases, fall outside both groups. The results of their updated 2017 analysis are shown below. Eosipterus yangi Pterodactylus antiquus [REDACTED] Diopecephalus kochi Aerodactylus scolopaciceps [REDACTED] Aurorazhdarchidae Gallodactylidae Ctenochasmatidae Altmuehlopterus ramphastinus [REDACTED] Germanodactylus cristatus Elanodactylus prolatus Lonchodectes compressirostris [REDACTED] Prejanopterus curvirostra Kepodactylus insperatus Dsungaripteridae [REDACTED] Ornithocheiromorpha [REDACTED] Hamipterus tianshanensis Ikrandraco avatar Istiodactylus Nyctosauridae [REDACTED] Pteranodon [REDACTED] Sinopterus dongi Tapejara wellnhoferi Tapejara (from
95-560: A much more exclusive group including only the branch of traditional ornithocheirid pterosaurs, though this use has since fallen out of favor by many researchers after years of competing definitions for the various pterodactyloid clades. The compromise definitions by Andres and others have since become more widely adopted. Below is a cladogram showing the results of a phylogenetic analysis first presented by Andres et al. in 2014, and updated by Longrich, Martill, and Andres in 2018. Andres and colleagues followed this definition, and also used
114-463: A pterosaur. O'Sullivan and Martill (2018) described a partial synsacrum from the Stonesfield Slate identified as possibly pterodactyloid based on the number of incorporated sacrals although they commented that the morphology was perhaps closer to that of wukongopterids. If correctly identified, it would be the oldest pterodactyloid fossil known. Pterodactyloidea is traditionally considered to be
133-420: Is T. wellnhoferi . The specific name honors German paleontologist Peter Wellnhofer . Two larger species, originally named Tapejara imperator and Tapejara navigans , were later classified in the genus Tapejara . However, several studies have shown that T. imperator and T. navigans are significantly different from T. wellnhoferi and therefore were reclassified into new genera. The species T. imperator
152-541: Is about 5 million years older than the oldest previously known confirmed specimens. Previously, a fossil jaw recovered from the Middle Jurassic Stonesfield Slate formation in the United Kingdom, was considered the oldest known. This specimen supposedly represented a member of the family Ctenochasmatidae , though further examination suggested it belonged to a teleosaurid stem-crocodilian instead of
171-464: Is also a common term for pterodactyloid pterosaurs, though it can also be used to refer to Pterodactylus specifically. Well-known examples of pterodactyloids include Pterodactylus , Pteranodon , and Quetzalcoatlus . In 2014, fossils from the Shishugou Formation of China were classified as the most basal pterodactyloid yet found, Kryptodrakon . At a minimum age of about 161 my, it
190-751: The Eupterodactyloidea . Anurognathidae [REDACTED] Kryptodrakon [REDACTED] "Painten pro-pterodactyloid" ( Propterodactylus ) Germanodactylidae [REDACTED] Pterodactylus [REDACTED] Gallodactylidae Ctenochasmatidae [REDACTED] Haopterus Serradraco Aussiedraco Lonchodectidae [REDACTED] Lonchodraconidae Istiodactylidae Ornithocheiriformes [REDACTED] Pteranodontia [REDACTED] Tapejaridae [REDACTED] Thalassodromidae [REDACTED] Dsungaripteridae [REDACTED] Chaoyangopteridae Radiodactylus Azhdarchidae [REDACTED] Some studies based on
209-530: 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 contains the most derived members of this group of flying reptiles. They appeared during the middle Jurassic Period, and differ from the basal (though paraphyletic ) rhamphorhynchoids by their short tails and long wing metacarpals (hand bones). The most advanced forms also lack teeth, and by
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#1732886939148228-672: The describer of Tapejara , and colleagues in 2019. They recovered Tapejara within the Tapejarini (a tribe within the family Tapejaridae), sister taxon to three other genera: Europejara , Caiuajara , and Tupandactylus . Keresdrakon vilsoni Thalassodromeus sethi Tupuxuara leonardii Caupedactylus ybaka Aymberedactylus cearensis Eopteranodon lii " Huaxiapterus " benxiensis " Huaxiapterus " corollatus Sinopterus dongi Europejara olcadesorum Caiuajara dobruskii Tapejara wellnhoferi Tupandactylus imperator Comparisons between
247-499: The group as a stem-based taxon in his dissertation, and then formalized the definition in 2014 as all pterosaurs more closely related to Pteranodon longiceps than to Pterodactylus antiquus . The slightly more exclusive group Ornithocheiroidea was re-defined in 2003 by Alexander Kellner. He defined it as the least inclusive clade containing Anhanguera blittersdorffi , Pteranodon longiceps , Dsungaripterus weii , and Quetzalcoatlus northropi . Ornithocheiroidea has often been used for
266-464: The group of short-tailed pterosaurs with long wrists (metacarpus), compared with the relatively long tails and short wrist bones of basal pterosaurs ("rhamphorhynchoids"). In 2004, Kevin Padian formally defined Pterodactyloidea as an apomorphy -based clade containing those species possessing a metacarpal at least 80% of the length of the humerus , homologous with that of Pterodactylus . This definition
285-423: The late Cretaceous, all known pterodactyloids were toothless. Many species had well-developed crests on the skull, a form of display taken to extremes in giant-crested forms like Nyctosaurus and Tupandactylus . Pterodactyloids were the last surviving pterosaurs when the order became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period, together with the non-avian dinosaurs and most marine reptiles. " Pterodactyl "
304-435: The name Tupandactylus and Ingridia used the former Tapejara imperator as their type species . The scientists who described Tupandactylus did not name a Tupandactylus navigans (but instead suggested it was synonymous to Tupandactylus imperator ), and Tapejara navigans was not formally reclassified as a distinct species of Tupandactylus until 2011. The cladogram below follows a phylogenetic analysis by Kellner,
323-532: Was adopted by the PhyloCode in 2020. A subgroup of pterodactyloids, called the Lophocratia , was named by David Unwin in 2003. Unwin defined the group as the most recent common ancestor of Pterodaustro guinazui and Quetzalcoatlus northropi , and all its descendants. This group was named for the presence of a head crest in most known species, though this feature has since been found in more primitive pterosaurs and
342-431: Was given its own genus, Tupandactylus , by Alexander Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. Unwin and Martill found that T. imperator and T. navigans belong in the same genus, and named them Ingridia imperator and I. navigans , respectively. This genus name honored Wellnhofer's late wife Ingrid. Because Tupandactylus was named first, it retained priority over the name Ingridia . To complicate matters, both
361-400: Was probably an ancestral feature for all pterodactyloids. There are competing theories of pterodactyloid phylogeny. Below is cladogram following a topology recovered by Brian Andres, using the most recent iteration of his data set (Andres, 2021). This study found the two traditional groupings of ctenochasmatoids and kin as an early branching group, with all other pterodactyloids grouped into
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