18-476: Pteranodontia is an extinct group of ornithocheiroid pterodactyloid pterosaurs . It lived during the Late Cretaceous ( Turonian to Maastrichtian stages) of North America , South America , Europe and Africa . They were some of the most advanced pterosaurs, and possessed highly specialized cranial crests that may have served as sexual attraction , with males having a much larger crest. Pteranodontia
36-487: A 2022 monograph on Quetzalcoatlus , Brian Andres suggested that Barbaridactylus may represent an additional species of Nyctosaurus . Pteranodon longiceps Pteranodon sternbergi ( Geosternbergia ) Ornithostoma Volgadraco Tethydraco Alamodactylus Cretornis Alcione Simurghia Muzquizopteryx Nyctosaurus grandis ( Barbaridactylus ) Nyctosaurus lamegoi Nyctosaurus nanus Nyctosaurus gracilis In
54-461: A 2024 phylogenetic analysis, Barbaridactylus was recovered as the sister taxon of Muzquiopteryx outside of the genus Nyctosaurus , and " Nyctosaurus " lamegoi was included as a species of Simurghia . Barbaridactylus was discovered in upper Maastrichtian phosphates located in the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Northern Morocco. This geological formation does not belong to a formation. It
72-407: Is B. grandis . All known specimens of Barbaridactylus were uncovered in a 3-year dig that unearthed about 200 pterosaur specimens. Its type specimen is FSAC-OB 232, which consists of its right femur, left radius, ulna, humerus, and scapulocoracoid, and partial mandible. Four other specimens have been referred to Barbaridactylus , FSAC-OB 8, 9, 10, and 11. They are all humeri. Barbaridactylus
90-880: Is a cladogram showing the phylogenetic placement of this group from Andres and Myers (2013). Muzquizopteryx coahuilensis "Nyctosaurus" lamegoi Nyctosaurus gracilis Alamodactylus byrdi Pteranodon longiceps Pteranodon sternbergi Longchengpterus zhaoi Nurhachius ignaciobritoi Liaoxipterus brachyognathus Istiodactylus latidens Istiodactylus sinensis Lonchodectes compressirostris Aetodactylus halli Cearadactylus atrox Brasileodactylus araripensis Ludodactylus sibbicki Liaoningopterus gui Anhanguera araripensis Anhanguera blittersdorffi Anhanguera piscator Anhanguera santanae Tropeognathus mesembrinus Ornithocheirus simus Coloborhynchus clavirostris Coloborhynchus wadleighi In 2018, Longrich, Martill, and Andres revisited
108-822: Is a cladogram showing the results of a phylogenetic analysis first presented by Andres and colleagues in 2014, and updated with additional data by Longrich and colleagues in 2018. In this analysis, they found Barbaridactylus to be the sister taxon of the Nyctosaurus species N. lamegoi , both placed within the family Nyctosauridae . Azhdarchoidea Piksi barbarulna Ornithocheiromorpha Pteranodon sternbergi Pteranodon longiceps Tethydraco regalis Alamodactylus byrdi Volgadraco bogolubovi Cretornis hlavaci Alcione elainus Simurghia robusta Muzquizopteryx coahuilensis Barbaridactylus grandis Nyctosaurus lamegoi Nyctosaurus nanus Nyctosaurus gracilis As part of
126-513: Is a nyctosaurid pterosaur from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco , a basin that dates back to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous . It was published in 2018 by paleontologists Nicholas R. Longrich, David M. Martill, and Brian Andres. In the same publication, two other pterosaurs from the same basin were described: Alcione and Simurghia . The type and only species
144-469: Is a group of pterosaurs within the extinct suborder Pterodactyloidea . They were typically large pterosaurs that lived from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods ( Valanginian to Maastrichtian stages), with fossil remains found all over the world except Antarctica . Ornithocheiroids were the most advanced group of pterosaurs, as the group includes the clade Azhdarchoidea , of which its members lived until
162-426: Is also rather typical for nyctosaurids, as it is proportionately short and broad, a morphology also present in the related pteranodontids . The scapulocoracoid is fused, meaning that the animal was probably an adult. It is boomerang shaped, and the two bones (the scapula and coracoid) form a 60-degree angle. The humeral shaft is long and thin. The hatchet-shaped deltopectoral crest (a distinctive feature of nyctosaurids)
180-623: Is divided into couches, with Barbaridactylus being discovered in Couche III. This layer dates back to the latest Maastrichtian, about 1 million years before the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous . Couche III represents the most diverse marine ecosystem known from the time. A large variety of marine life is known from the region, including sharks and bony fish, in addition to turtles, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs . A few rare, fragmentary dinosaur fossils are known, including an abelisaur and
198-441: Is in a notably distal location in relation to the humeral head, more similar to that of Nyctosaurus than Alcione . This crest is short and broad, and the expanded tip is weakly developed, which are basal features. The deltopectoral crest appears warped from an anterior view, more so than in other nyctosaurids, but much less than in pteranodontids. There is a pneumatic fossa located on the ventral surface of each humeral head that
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#1732863333917216-665: Is named after the Barbary Coast of North Africa, and the Greek dactylus ( Greek : δάκτυλος ) meaning "finger." Its specific name , grandis , means "great" in Latin. Barbaridactylus was one of the larger nyctosaurids, with a humerus length of 22.5 cm (8.9 in), wingspan of approximately 4 m (13 ft) and a body mass of 4 kg (8.8 lb), making it one of the largest nyctosaurids. Like other nyctosaurids, Barbaridactylus had upward-curving jaws. The only known cervical
234-419: Is unique to this species. The ulna is relatively gracile, unlike the robust ulna of Alcione , and its ends are weakly expanded. The diameter radius is approximately two thirds that of the ulna. The femur of Barbaridactylus is relatively typical for a nyctosaurid, although it lacks the strong distal expansion present in other nyctosaurids. Instead, it expands more gently, similar to that of Pteranodon . Below
252-557: The Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous, around 66 million years ago. Notable pterosaurs from this group include the pteranodontians Pteranodon and Nyctosaurus , the ornithocheirid Ornithocheirus , the anhanguerid Tropeognathus , as well as the azhdarchids Hatzegopteryx and Quetzalcoatlus . The name Ornithocheiroidea was originally defined as an apomorphy -based taxon by Christopher Bennett in 1994. It
270-870: The classification and proposed a different hypothesis based on a new phylogenetic analysis. Following Marsh's original classification, they restricted Pteranodontia to the families Pteranodontidae and Nyctosauridae . They also replaced Pteranodontia with Pteranodontoidea as the more inclusive group. Tapejaromorpha Dsungaripteridae Thalassodromidae Azhdarchidae Chaoyangopteridae Piksi barbarulna Ornithocheiromorpha Pteranodon sternbergi Pteranodon longiceps Tethydraco regalis Alamodactylus byrdi Volgadraco bogolubovi Cretornis hlavaci Alcione elainus Simurghia robusta Muzquizopteryx coahuilensis Barbaridactylus grandis Nyctosaurus lamegoi Nyctosaurus nanus Nyctosaurus gracilis Ornithocheiroid Ornithocheiroidea (or ornithocheiroids )
288-1708: The definition of Kellner (2003) to avoid confusion with similarly-defined groups, like Pteranodontoidea . Below is a cladogram showing the results of a phylogenetic analysis presented by Longrich and colleagues in 2018. They found Ornithocheiroidea to consist of the clades Pteranodontoidea and Azhdarchoidea , as well as the genus Piksi . 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 Barbaridactylus grandis Barbaridactylus
306-503: Was given a relationship-based definition in 2003 by Alexander Kellner, who defined it as the least inclusive clade containing Anhanguera blittersdorffi , Pteranodon longiceps , Dsungaripterus weii , and Quetzalcoatlus northropi . Later that year, David Unwin suggested a more restrictive definition, in which the clade only contains Pteranodon longiceps , Istiodactylus latidens , and their descentants. Brian Andres (2008, 2010, 2014) in his analyses, defined Ornithocheiroidea using
324-406: Was originally named by Marsh in 1876. In 2003, it was given a phylogenetic definition by David Unwin as the common ancestor of Pteranodon and Nyctosaurus plus all its descendants. Though Marsh had originally named this group based on the shared absence of teeth in those species, most analyses show that all of the traditional "ornithocheiroid" pterosaurs are also members of this clade. Below
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