Diopecephalus

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Diopecephalus
Temporal range: Tithonian
Fossil in Augsburg Naturmuseum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Clade: Euctenochasmatia
Genus: Diopecephalus
Seeley
, 1871
Species
  • D. kochi (
    type
    ) (Wagner, 1837 (originally Ornithocephalus)

Diopecephalus is a

Pterodactylus longicollum, with longicollum erroneously listed as the type species.[1]

Juvenile type specimen

Assigned species

Like many pterosaurs, it has had a confusing taxonomic history, being given names by various authorities which identify it with four other genera:

  • Pterodactylus longicollum (von Meyer 1854)
  • Pterodactylus vulturinus (Wagner 1857)
  • Pterodactylus longicollis (Wagner 1858)
  • Pterodactylus suevicus (Fraas 1878)
  • Cycnorhamphus fraasii (Seeley 1891)
  • Pterodactylus frassi (Seeley 1901)
  • Gallodactylus
    longicollum
    (Fabre 1974)
  • Ornithocephalus longipes (Olshevsky 1978) (Ornithocephalus is an obsolete name for Pterodactylus)
  • Ornithocephalus vulturinus (Olshevsky 1978)

In 2017, Steven U. Vidovic and David M. Martill resurrected the genus Diopecephalus for Pterodactylus kochi,[2] a taxon generally regarded as synonymous with Pterodactylus antiquus.[3][4] Though historically considered distinct from antiquus, most modern analyses of kochi anatomy strongly suggest it represents a juvenile P. antiquus. Pterosaur expert Christopher Bennett noted that some allegedly diagnostic kochi anatomy actually reflected measurement errors of the kochi holotype, and that once corrected the two species cannot be adequately distinguished from one another.[4] Vidovic and Martill's suggestion that kochi is taxonomically distinct rely on a combination of characteristics rather than autapomorphies, including features such as the slope of the snout and the rounded shape of the back of the skull, the shape and distribution of teeth, and the length and depth of the cervical vertebrae.[2] Most of these features are typical for Pterodactylus or are known to vary with growth stage[1][3][4] and, as per Vidovic and Martill's previous work with another resurrected Pterodactylus-like genus, Aerodactylus, arguments discounting individual variation and preservational factors (e.g., specimen orientation, compression) from true taxonomic distinction were not provided.[5] Further work is likely needed to validate D. kochi as a genuine taxon, and not a synonym of P. antiquus.

Classification

Below is a

Pterodactylus antiquus within the clade Euctenochasmatia.[6]

Archaeopterodactyloidea 
 Germanodactylidae 

Normannognathus wellnhoferi

Germanodactylus cristatus

Germanodactylus rhamphastinus

 Euctenochasmatia 

Pterodactylus antiquus

Pterodactylus kochi (Diopecephalus)

Ardeadactylus longicollum

Ctenochasmatoidea

References

  • von Meyer, C. E. H. 1854, Letter on various fossils. N. Jb. Miner. Geogn. Geol. Petrefakt. pp. 47–58.
  • Wagner, J. A. 1857, Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Flugsaurier aus den lithographischen Schiefern in Bayern. Gelehrte Anz. k. bayer. Akad. Wiss. (2), 171–181.
  • Seeley, H. G. 1871, Additional evidence of the structure of the head in ornithosaurs from the Cambridge Upper Greensand; being a supplement to “The Ornithosauria”. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist.(7) 37, 20–36. & pls 2–3.
  • Seeley, H. G. 1891, The ornithosaurian pelvis. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 7, 237–255.

External links

The Pterosaur Database [1]