20-642: Tapejaroidea (or tapejaroids ) is a group of pterosaurs belonging to the clade Ornithocheiroidea . Tapejaroids lived from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods, with one possible member, Tendaguripterus , extending the fossil range to the Late Jurassic period. Tapejaroidea contains two groups, the Dsungaripteridae and the Azhdarchoidea , which in turn includes the azhdarchids , the group that contains some of
40-508: A nomen dubium by Alexander Kellner in 2013. A 2023 study also classified T. deliradamus as a nomen dubium , specifically an indeterminate tapejarine instead of thalassodromine, and a sister species of Caupedactylus . Tupuxuara is a member of the group Azhdarchoidea . Kellner assigned it to the Tapejaridae within Azhdarchoidea. According to some analyses however, Tupuxuara
60-528: A purported third species, Tupuxuara deliradamus . The holotype is SMNK PAL 6410, a skull. Another skull is the paratype : KPMNH DL 84. The specific name is derived from Latin delirus , "insane" or "crazy", and adamas , "invincible", but also the word from which "diamond" is derived. The species has a distinctive diamond-shaped skull opening and low eye sockets. The name is a tribute to the song " Shine On You Crazy Diamond " by Pink Floyd , one of Witton's favorite bands. However, this species has been considered as
80-403: A wingspan of 4.7 m (15 ft), body length of 2 m (6.6 ft) and body msss of 25 kg (55 lb). In 1994, Kellner and Campos named a second species, Tupuxuara leonardii . The specific name honors Giuseppe Leonardi . The holotype is MN 6592-V, a fragmentary skull with a more rounded crest. Other such material has been referred to T. leonardii . In 2009, Mark Witton named
100-723: Is a cladogram showing the phylogenetic placement of Tupuxuara within Neoazhdarchia from Andres and Myers (2013). Thalassodromeus sethi Tupuxuara leonardii Tupuxuara longicristatus Domeykodactylus ceciliae [REDACTED] Dsungaripterus weii Noripterus complicidens Noripterus parvus Eoazhdarcho liaoxiensis Shenzhoupterus chaoyangensis Chaoyangopterus zhangi Jidapterus edentus Radiodactylus langstoni Azhdarcho lancicollis TMM 42489 Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis Arambourgiania philadelphiae Quetzalcoatlus northropi [REDACTED] Quetzalcoatlus sp. It
120-610: Is a genus of large, crested, and toothless pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period ( Albian stage) of what is now the Romualdo Formation of the Santana Group , Brazil , about 125 to 112 million years ago. Tupuxuara is a close relative of Thalassodromeus , and both form a group that is either called Thalassodrominae (if placed within the family Tapejaridae ) or Thalassodromidae (if placed within
140-422: 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
160-661: Is closer to the Azhdarchidae (the group that includes the giant Texan form Quetzalcoatlus ) than to Tapejara and its relatives. The cladogram below follows the 2011 analysis of Felipe Pinheiro and colleagues. Azhdarchidae Thalassodromeus sethi Tupuxuara deliradamus Tupuxuara leonardii Jidapterus edentus Shenzhoupterus chaoyangensis Chaoyangopterus zhangi Sinopterus jii Sinopterus dongi Huaxiapterus benxiensis Huaxiapterus corollatus Tapejara wellnhoferi Tupandactylus navigans Tupandactylus imperator Below
180-527: Is shown below: Banguela oberlii Dsungaripterus weii Noripterus complicidens Chaoyangopterus zhangi Shenzhoupterus chaoyangensis Quetzalcoatlus sp. [REDACTED] Azhdarcho lancicollis Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis Tupuxuara leonardii [REDACTED] Thalassodromeus sethi Tupandactylus imperator [REDACTED] Tapejara wellnhoferi Sinopterus dongi Eopteranodon lii Huaxiapterus corollatus Huaxiapterus benxiensis More recently,
200-470: The Romualdo Formation ) of Brazil. It consists of a snout and some partial wing bones. Mature individuals of T. longicristatus had a back-swept crest arising from the snout. Much more fossil material has later been found, showing considerable variation in morphology . Some researchers explain this as intra-specific variability, being caused by a difference in age or sex. Others, however, assume there are different species present. The largest specimens indicate
220-829: The Dsungaripteridae and the Azhdarchoidea. Dsungaripterus weii Noripterus parvus Azhdarcho lancicollis Quetzalcoatlus sp. [REDACTED] Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis Chaoyangopterus zhangi Jidapterus edentus Shenzhoupterus chaoyangensis Keresdrakon vilsoni Thalassodromeus sethi Tupuxuara leonardii [REDACTED] Caupedactylus ybaka Aymberedactylus cearensis Eopteranodon lii "Huaxiapterus" benxiensis "Huaxiapterus" corollatus Sinopterus dongi Europejara olcadesorum Caiuajara dobruskii Tapejara wellnhoferi Tupandactylus imperator [REDACTED] In 2021, Pêgas et al. named and officially registered two new clades: Azhdarchomorpha ,
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#1732880689421240-557: 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
260-518: The clade Neoazhdarchia ). The genus was named and described by Alexander Kellner and Diógenes de Almeida Campos in 1988. The type species is Tupuxuara longicristatus . The generic name refers to a familiar spirit from the mythology of the Tupi . The specific name means "long-crested" in Latin . The holotype , MN 6591-V, was found in the Early Cretaceous ( Albian ) Santana Formation (now known as
280-1698: 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 Tupuxuara leonardii Tupuxuara
300-486: The largest flying animals. The group was named by Brazilian paleontologist Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner in 1996. Tapejaroidea was named by paleontologist Alexander Kellner from Brazil in 1996, and in 2003 it was given a phylogenetic definition by Kellner himself as the most recent common ancestor of Dsungaripterus , Tapejara and Quetzalcoatlus , and all their descendants. Tapejaroidea, in Kellner's 2003 study,
320-445: The most inclusive clade containing Azhdarcho but not Tapejara or Thalassodromeus , and Alanqidae , containing Alanqa but not Chaoyangopterus or Azhdarcho . Their phylogeny is shown below: Dsungaripterus Noripterus Tupuxuara Thalassodromeus oberlii Thalassodromeus sethi Aymberedactylus Caupedactylus Bakonydraco Ornithocheiroidea Ornithocheiroidea (or ornithocheiroids )
340-433: The original definition of Tapejaroidea has been used in a number of phylogenetic analyses conducted in 2019 and 2020, meaning that Tapejaroidea and Pteranodontoidea were once again recovered as the sister taxa and within the larger Ornithocheiroidea. The cladogram below represents the phylogenetic analysis conducted by Kellner and colleagues in 2019, where they recovered Tapejaroidea as the more inclusive group containing both
360-503: 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
380-469: Was once been suggested that Tupuxuara was a fish eater at the coasts of South America , while some deviant hypotheses include the possibility it was a fruit eater. However, based on its azhdarchoid affinities, it was most likely a terrestrial omnivore or carnivore. The closely related Thalassodromeus was specialized for larger prey, while both Tupuxuara species lacked such specializations. A subadult described by David Martill and Darren Naish from
400-496: Was recovered as the sister taxon of the Pteranodontoidea , both within the group Ornithocheiroidea , and consisting of the groups Dsungaripteridae and Azhdarchoidea . However, in a phylogenetic analysis made by Jaime Headden and Hebert Bruno Nascimento Campos in 2014, Tapejaroidea was recovered within the Azhdarchoidea, as a clade comprising the families Tapejaridae and Thalassodromidae . The cladogram of their analysis
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