Cuspicephalus
Cuspicephalus | |
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Restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | †Pterosauria |
Family: | †Wukongopteridae |
Subfamily: | † Wukongopterinae
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Genus: | †Cuspicephalus Martill & Etches, 2011 |
Species: | †C. scarfi
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Binomial name | |
†Cuspicephalus scarfi Martill & Etches, 2011
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Cuspicephalus is an
Discovery
Cuspicephalus is known from the
Naming and etymology
Cuspicephalus was named by
Description
The skull is lightly built and has a length of 326 millimetres. It is very elongated, being just 55 millimetres high at the back, and has an triangular profile. Almost half of its length is accounted for by a large skull opening, the fenestra nasoantorbitalis, a confluence of the original fenestra antorbitalis with the bony nostrils. In front of this opening a low and elongated snout is present. The rostral index sensu Naish & Martill of this snout, in this case its length divided by its maximum height, is 5.4, the highest value known for any pterosaur. In the snout about eleven or twelve teeth are present; the total for the upper jaw is estimated at twenty-five to thirty. The teeth are largest in front and gradually decline in size towards the back. They have a broad base with an oval cross-section. Perhaps they are pointing outwards to a degree but the deformation of the fossil by compression makes this uncertain.
On top of the skull, behind the snout proper, above the fenestra a longitudinal low bony crest is present. It consists of fibrous bone, vertically directed, which might have formed the base for a much higher crest of soft tissue. The crest starts above the twelfth tooth position; its limit at the back is unknown because of damage but it is considered unlikely that it extended as far as the eyes, the roof of the skull not showing any trace of it. The crest is highest in the (preserved) middle.
Phylogeny
The describers did not perform a
See also
References
- ^ .
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External links
- Thatcher cartoonist Gerald Scarfe is Dorset fossil namesake - BBC news article, includes Gerald Scarfe's reaction