Pterodactyloidea

Pterodactyloids Temporal range: Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Cast of a Pterodactylus antiquus specimen, Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Clade:	†Caelidracones
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea Plieninger, 1901
Subgroups
†Dermodactylus †Eurolimnornis †Herbstosaurus †Kryptodrakon †Ningchengopterus †Pangupterus †Samrukia? †Wenupteryx †Lophocratia Unwin, 2003 †Archaeopterodactyloidea †Eupterodactyloidea
Synonyms
Dracochira Haeckel, 1895

Pterodactyloidea (derived from the

"Pterodactyl" is also a common term for pterodactyloid pterosaurs, though it can also be used to refer to Pterodactylus specifically. Well-known examples of pterodactyloids include Pterodactylus, Pteranodon, and Quetzalcoatlus.

In 2014, fossils from the

A subgroup of pterodactyloids, called the Lophocratia, was named by David Unwin in 2003. Unwin defined the group as the most recent common ancestor of Pterodaustro guinazui and Quetzalcoatlus northropi, and all its descendants.[7] This group was named for the presence of a head crest in most known species, though this feature has since been found in more primitive pterosaurs and was probably an ancestral feature for all pterodactyloids.^[8]

There are competing theories of pterodactyloid phylogeny. Below is cladogram following a topology recovered by Brian Andres, using the most recent iteration of his data set (Andres, 2021). This study found the two traditional groupings of ctenochasmatoids and kin as an early branching group, with all other pterodactyloids grouped into the Eupterodactyloidea.^[9]

Caelidracones

Anurognathidae  Pterodactyloidea  Kryptodrakon Painten pro-pterodactyloid Lophocratia  Archaeopterodactyloidea  Germanodactylidae  Euctenochasmatia  Pterodactylus  Ctenochasmatoidea  Gallodactylidae Ctenochasmatidae  Eupterodactyloidea  Haopterus Ornithocheiroidea  Pteranodontoidea  Ornithocheiromorpha Serradraco Aussiedraco Lonchodectidae Lonchodraconidae Lanceodontia Istiodactylidae Ornithocheiriformes Pteranodontia  Azhdarchoidea  Tapejaridae   Neoazhdarchia   Dsungaripteromorpha Thalassodromidae Dsungaripteridae Neopterodactyloidea Chaoyangopteridae Azhdarchiformes Radiodactylus Azhdarchidae

Some studies based on a different type of analysis have found that this basic division into primitive (archaeopterodactyloid) and advanced (eupterodactyloid) species may not be correct. Beginning in 2014, Steven Vidovic and David Martill constructed an analysis in which several pterosaurs traditionally thought of as archaeopterodactyloids closely related to the ctenochasmatoids may have been more closely related to ornithocheiroids, or in some cases, fall outside both groups. The results of their updated 2017 analysis are shown below.^[10]

Pterodactyloidea

Eosipterus yangi Pterodactylus antiquus Lophocratia Euctenochasmatia Diopecephalus kochi Ctenochasmatoidea Aurorazhdarchia Aerodactylus scolopaciceps Aurorazhdarchidae Gallodactylidae Ctenochasmatidae Eupterodactyloidea Altmuehlopterus ramphastinus Dsungaripteroidea Germanodactylus cristatus Elanodactylus prolatus Ornithocheiroidea Dsungaripteromorpha Lonchodectes compressirostris Prejanopterus curvirostra Kepodactylus insperatus Dsungaripteridae Pteranodontoidea Ornithocheiromorpha Hamipterus tianshanensis Ikrandraco avatar Istiodactylus Pteranodontia Nyctosauridae Pteranodon Azhdarchoidea Sinopterus dongi Tapejarinae Eoazhdarcho liaoxiensis Neoazhdarchia Tapejaromorpha Bennettazhia oregonensis Huaxiapterus jii Thalassodromeus sethi Tupuxuara leonardii Azhdarchidae

References