Euctenochasmatia
Euctenochasmatians | |
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Cast of the sub-adult Pterodactylus antiquus
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Cast of fossil specimen of the Pterodaustro guinazui
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | †Pterosauria |
Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
Infraorder: | †Archaeopterodactyloidea |
Clade: | †Euctenochasmatia Unwin, 2003 |
Subgroups | |
Euctenochasmatia is an extinct group of
Euctenochasmatians were specialized pterosaurs that had elongated necks as well as specialized teeth. A peculiar family within this group is the Ctenochasmatidae, which most of the members had very distinguishing teeth that were lined within their elongated snouts.[2] A genus called Pterofiltrus only had 112 teeth, but these teeth cover about 55.8% of the total skull, and the skull itself measured about 208 millimeters (8.2 in) in length.[3]
Description
Euctenochasmatians had very distinctive features in comparison to other pterosaurs, including the shape of their jaws, as well as their highly specialized teeth. These teeth are thought to have been used for
Other members of this group, such as the
One of the largest toothed pterosaurs was Moganopterus, it was, yet again, a ctenochasmatid, and was similar in build to Feilongus. What made Moganopterus distinct was its size; while Feilongus had a wingspan of about 2.4 meters (7.9 ft), Moganopterus had an impressive wingspan of more than 7 meters (23 ft), making it more than three times larger than Feilongus.[8]
Classification
Researchers such as David Unwin, have traditionally defined the dubious family Pterodactylidae in such a way to ensure it is nested within the clade Ctenochasmatoidea. In 2003, Unwin defined the same clade (Pterodactylus + Pterodaustro), but erected the name Euctenochasmatia instead of Pterodactylidae for his conclusion.[9] Unwin had considered Euctenochasmatia to be a subgroup within Ctenochasmatoidea, similar to his former conclusion of Pterodactylidae, but most analyses have since found the genus Pterodactylus to be more primitive than previously thought, making the clade Euctenochasmatia the more inclusive group containing both Pterodactylus and Ctenochasmatoidea.[10]
Below is cladogram following a topology recovered by Brian Andres, using the most recent iteration of his data set (Andres, 2021). Andres' analysis found Pterodactylus to be a close relative of the ctenochasmatoids.[11]
Pterodactyloidea |
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Earlier, in 2017, Steven Vidovic and David Martill had recovered a significantly different set of relationships for early
Pterodactyloidea |
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References
- ^ S2CID 219204038.
- ISBN 978-0691150611.
- PMID 22146956.
- PMID 18308672.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 0-7607-0154-7.
- .
- S2CID 129439258.
- S2CID 130163272.
- S2CID 86710955.
- ISBN 0691150613.
- ^ Andres, B. (2021) Phylogenetic systematics of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 41:sup1, 203-217. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2020.1801703 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2020.1801703