Pteranodontoidea

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Pteranodontoids
Temporal range:
Ma
Mounted skeleton of a female
Geosternbergia sternbergi
Reconstruction of
Ferrodraco lentoni
 showing the known material, scale bar = 50 mm.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Pterosauria
Suborder: †Pterodactyloidea
Clade: †Ornithocheiroidea
Clade: †Pteranodontoidea
Kellner, 1996
Subgroups
Synonyms
  • Euornithocheira Unwin, 2003

Pteranodontoidea (or pteranodontoids, from

senior synonym of Pteranodontoidea, however it depends on its definition.[2] Brian Andres (2008, 2010, 2014) in his analyses, converts Ornithocheiroidea using the definition of Kellner (2003) to avoid this synonymy.[3]

Despite the meaning of the group's name, not all pteranodontoids were toothless, the earlier genera such as the

soaring birds such the albatross, which mainly consisted of fish. Some genera of this group however, fed mainly on carrion, this can be seen on the earlier genera such as Istiodactylus. They were also known for their proportionally large wingspans, the largest recorded of any pteranodontoid reached 8.70 meters (28.5 ft), and it belongs to the genus Tropeognathus.[5]

History of early discovered genera

Lectotype rostrum of Lonchodraco giganteus, the first ever known pteranodontoid

Several fossil remains were found in the

Criorhynchus (meaning "ram beak"), in reference to their unique convex "keeled" crests on top, and underside of their snout. Owen then created a type species for Coloborhynchus, C. clavirostris, and sunk three species which were assigned previously to Ornithocheirus, and Criorhynchus consisted entirely of former Ornithocheirus species.[12] Later in 1881 however, Seeley disagreed with Owen's conclusions, and he therefore assigned the species he named Ornithocheirus simus as the type species of Ornithocheirus.[13]

Specimen YPM1177, the type specimen of Pteranodon, now interpreted as a female individual due to its short cranial crest

The naming of the different pterosaur species, as well as the genus Ornithocheirus in England resulted in further research in other places. In the United States, American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh led an expedition to the Smoky Hill Chalk deposits in western Kansas in 1870.[14] Marsh unearthed the first ever specimens of pterosaur from North America (specimens YPM 1160 and YPM 1161), which now belong to the genus Pteranodon, and consisted of partial wing remains and a tooth of the fish Xiphactinus, which Marsh had once believed that it belonged to Pteranodon.[15] In 1871, he assigned these specimens to a new species called "Pterodactylus oweni" (meaning "Owen's wing finger"),[16] in honor of Sir Richard Owen, but he realized that the name he had chosen had already been used for a different European pterosaur species described by Harry Seeley, so he renamed his discovery as Pterodactylus occidentalis (meaning "Western wing finger"), in reference to the location where it was found.[17] American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope had also unearthed several remains of the large North American pterosaur, and based on these remains, Cope named two new species, Ornithochirus umbrosus and Ornithochirus harpyia, in an attempt to assign them to the large European genus Ornithocheirus, but he had missed the 'e' when describing them. The paper naming these species by Cope's paper naming had been published in 1872, just five days after the publication of Marsh's paper. This led to a dispute between the two paleontologists, which both fought over whose names had priority to the published literature, in what was obviously the same species of pterosaur.[18]

In 1876, Marsh had described the first skull specimen of Pteranodon, which as unearthed by American paleontologist

synapomorphies seen in both.[21]
nomina dubia or synonyms.[18]

Skull elements of the specimens NHMUK R3877 and R176 of Istiodactylus, and the 1913 long-jawed skull reconstruction by Reginald Hooley

A peculiar discovery was made in 1887 by Seeley in the

theropod dinosaur. They pointed out that no detailed attempts had been made to compare the sacrum of O. cluniculus with those of pterosaurs, and that the species O. latidens had in effect been treated as the type species of the genus Ornithodesmus in their conclusion. Now as a definite species of pterosaur, "O." latidens thus required a new generic name.[26] In 2001, Howse, Milner, and David Martill, reassigned "O." latidens to a new genus called Istiodactylus, resulting in a new combination known as Istiodactylus latidens. The generic name Istiodactylus means "sail finger", in reference to its proportionally large wings.[28]

Classification

Originally defined by

Lanceodontia and the Pteranodontia.[31]

Topology 1: Andres & Myers (2013).[30]

Paleobiology

Locomotion

Pteranodontoids, like other pterosaurs, are considered to have been skilled fliers as well as adept at moving on the ground. Evidence from footprints shows that most pterosaurs did not sprawl their limbs to a large degree, as in modern reptiles, but rather held the limbs relatively erect when walking, like dinosaurs. While no pteranodontoid footprints are known, it is likely that they also walked erect.[32] Among pterosaurs, pteranodontoids had unusually uneven limb proportions, with the forelimbs much longer than the hind limbs. This would likely have required them to use unique modes of locomotion when on the ground compared to other pterosaurs. It is possible that pteranodontoids ran (but not walked) bipedally, or that they used a hopping gait.[32] Pterosaur researcher Mike Habib has noted that the limbs proportions of pteranodontoids like Anhanguera are consistent with hopping.[33]

References

  1. S2CID 205783384
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  2. ^ a b Unwin, D. M., (2003): On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs. pp. 139-190. — in Buffetaut, E. & Mazin, J.-M., (eds.): Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs. Geological Society of London, Special Publications 217, London, 1-347
  3. ^ a b Andres, Brian Blake (2014). Systematics of the Pterosauria. Yale University. p. 366. A preview that shows the cladogram without clade names
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    PMID 23794925
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  8. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1851.tb01125.x
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  9. ^ Owen, R. (1851). Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Cretaceous Formations. The Palaeontographical Society 5(11):1-118.
  10. doi:10.1080/00222937008696143
  11. ^ Seeley, H.G. (1870). The Ornithosauria: an Elementary Study of the Bones of Pterodactyles. Cambridge, 130 pp.
  12. ^ Owen, R. 1874, Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Mesozoic Formations. Palaeontographical Society, London, 14 pp
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  14. ^ Betts, C. W. 1871. The Yale College Expedition of 1870. Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, 43(257):663–671
  15. ^ Marsh, O. C. 1871. Scientific expedition to the Rocky Mountains. American Journal of Science, ser. 3, 1(6):142–143.
  16. ^ Marsh, O. C., 1871. "Note on a new and gigantic species of Pterodactyle." American Journal of Science, ser. 3, 1(6):472 oceansofkansas.com/Marsh71.htm
  17. ^ Marsh, O. C. 1872. Discovery of additional remains of Pterosauria, with descriptions of two new species. American Journal of Science, Series 3, 3(16):241–248.
  18. ^ a b Bennett, S.C. (1994). "Taxonomy and systematics of the Late Cretaceous pterosaur Pteranodon (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloida)". Occasional Papers of the Natural History Museum, University of Kansas. 169: 1–70.
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  20. ^ Bennett, S.C. (2000). "Inferring stratigraphic position of fossil vertebrates from the Niobrara Chalk of western Kansas." Current Research in Earth Sciences: Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin, 244(Part 1): 26 pp.
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  22. doi:10.1144/SP343.19
  23. ^ Williston, S. W. 1903. On the osteology of Nyctosaurus (Nyctodactylus), with notes on American pterosaurs. Field Mus. Publ. (Geological Ser.) 2(3):125–163, 2 figs., pls. XL-XLIV.
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  26. ^ a b Howse, S. C. B.; Milner, A. R. (1993). "Ornithodesmus – a maniraptoran theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, England". Palaeontology. 36: 425–437.
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  28. ^
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  29. ^ Kellner, A. W. A., (2003): Pterosaur phylogeny and comments on the evolutionary history of the group. pp. 105-137. — in Buffetaut, E. & Mazin, J.-M., (eds.): Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs. Geological Society of London, Special Publications 217, London, 1-347
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  33. ^ Habib, M. (2011). "Dinosaur Revolution: Anhanguera." H2VP: Paleobiomechanics. Weblog entry, 20-SEP-2011. Accessed 28-SEP-2011: http://h2vp.blogspot.com/2011/09/dinosaur-revolution-anhanguera.html
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