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Pterodactyloidea
 
 
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Pterodactyloidea (derived from the Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
 word
Word

A word is a unit of language that represents a concept which can be expressively communication with Meaning . A word consists of one or more morphemes which are linked more or less tightly together, and has a phonetic value....
s pte??? (pterón, for usual ptéryx) "wing", and d??t???? (dáctylos) "finger" meaning "winged finger", "wing-finger" or "finger-wing") forms one of the two suborders of pterosaur
Pterosaur

Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or Order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight....
s ("wing lizards"), and contains the most advanced members of this group of flying reptiles. They appeared during the middle Jurassic
Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to  Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
 Period, and differ from the basal rhamphorhynchoidea
Rhamphorhynchoidea

The Rhamphorhynchoidea forms one of the two suborders of pterosaurs and represent a grade of primitive members of this group of flying reptiles....
 by their short tails and long wing metacarpals (hand bones).






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Pterodactyloidea (derived from the Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
 word
Word

A word is a unit of language that represents a concept which can be expressively communication with Meaning . A word consists of one or more morphemes which are linked more or less tightly together, and has a phonetic value....
s pte??? (pterón, for usual ptéryx) "wing", and d??t???? (dáctylos) "finger" meaning "winged finger", "wing-finger" or "finger-wing") forms one of the two suborders of pterosaur
Pterosaur

Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or Order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight....
s ("wing lizards"), and contains the most advanced members of this group of flying reptiles. They appeared during the middle Jurassic
Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to  Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
 Period, and differ from the basal rhamphorhynchoidea
Rhamphorhynchoidea

The Rhamphorhynchoidea forms one of the two suborders of pterosaurs and represent a grade of primitive members of this group of flying reptiles....
 by their short tails and long wing metacarpals (hand bones). The most advanced forms also lack teeth. Many species had well developed crests on the skull, a form of display taken to extremes in giant-crested forms like Nyctosaurus
Nyctosaurus

Nyctosaurus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur notable for its extraordinarily large cranial crest, otherwise known only in the distantly related Tapejaridae....
 and Tupandactylus
Tupandactylus

Tupandactylus is a genus of tapejaridae pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Santana Formation of Brazil. It is notable for its large cranial crest, composed partly of bone and partly of soft tissue....
. Pterodactyloids (specifically the family Azhdarchidae
Azhdarchidae

Azhdarchidae is a Family of pterosaurs known primarily from the late Cretaceous Period, and which included some of the largest known flying animals of all time....
) were the last surviving pterosaurs when the order became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous
Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
 Period, together with the dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
s and most marine reptiles.

"Pterodactyl" is also a common term for pterodactyloid pterosaurs, though it can also be used to refer to pterosaurs in general or to Pterodactylus
Pterodactylus

Pterodactylus is a genus of pterosaur that lived during the late Jurassic Period . It was a carnivore and probably preyed upon fish and other small animals....
 specifically. Well-known examples of pterodactyloids include Pterodactylus, Dsungaripterus
Dsungaripterus

Dsungaripterus was a genus of pterosaur with an average wingspan of 3 metres . It lived during the Early Cretaceous, ranging from China, where the first fossils were found in the Junngar Basin, to Africa, where more remains have been found....
, Pteranodon
Pteranodon

Pteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous of North America , was one of the largest pterosaur genera, with a wingspan of up to ....
, and Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatlus

Quetzalcoatlus was a pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America , and one of the largest known flying animals of all time....
.

Classification


Taxonomy

Listing of families and superfamilies within the suborder Pterodactyloidea, after Unwin 2006.

  • Order Pterosauria
    • Suborder Pterodactyloidea
      • Nemicolopterus
        Nemicolopterus

        Nemicolopterus is a genus of Pterodactyloidea pterosaur, described in 2008. The type species and only known species is N. crypticus. It lived in the Jehol Biota 120 million years ago....
      • Superfamily Ornithocheiroidea
        Ornithocheiroidea

        Ornithocheiroidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea....
        • Family Istiodactylidae
          Istiodactylidae

          Istiodactylidae is a small Family of pterosaurs. This family was named in 2001 after the type genus Istiodactylus was discovered not to be a member of the genus Ornithodesmus....
        • Family Ornithocheiridae
        • Family Pteranodontidae
          Pteranodontidae

          Pteranodontidae is a Family of large pterosaurs of the Cretaceous Period of North America. Many pteranodontids had a distinctive, elongated crest jutting from the rear of the head ....
      • Superfamily Ctenochasmatoidea
        Ctenochasmatoidea

        Ctenochasmatoidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea....
        • Cycnorhamphus
          Cycnorhamphus

          Cycnorhamphus is a genus of ctenochasmatoidea pterodactyloidea pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of France and Germany. Two species are currently recognized as valid....
        • Feilongus
          Feilongus

          Feilongus is an extinct genus of Ctenochasmatoidea or Ornithocheiroidea pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Beipiao, Liaoning, People's Republic of China....
        • Pterodactylus
          Pterodactylus

          Pterodactylus is a genus of pterosaur that lived during the late Jurassic Period . It was a carnivore and probably preyed upon fish and other small animals....
        • Family Ctenochasmatidae
          • Elanodactylus
            Elanodactylus

            Elanodactylus is a genus of ctenochasmatidae pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning, People's Republic of China. It is known from a partial postcranial skeleton that has neck vertebrae similar to those of azhdarchidae, long-necked giant pterosaurs most common in the Late Cretaceous, but is otherwise distinct from...
          • Gegepterus
            Gegepterus

            Gegepterus was a genus of Ctenochasmatidae pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous-age Yixian Formation of Liaoning, People's Republic of China....
          • Subfamily Ctenochasmatinae
            • Beipiaopterus
              Beipiaopterus

              Beipiaopterus chenianus was a pterosaur of the family Ctenochasmatidae of the Yixian formation of Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.The type and only species is known from a large part of the vertebrae, a complete wing and two hind limbs....
            • Ctenochasma
              Ctenochasma

              'Ctenochasma' is an extinct genus of Late Jurassic pterosaur belonging to the suborder pterodactyloidea. Three species, C. roemeri, C. taqueti, and C....
            • Eosipterus
              Eosipterus

              Eosipterus is an extinct genus of pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning, China.Its name is Greek for "dawn wing" or "east wing"....
            • Pterodaustro
              Pterodaustro

              Pterodaustro was a Cretaceous pterosaur from South America, living 140 million years ago. Pterodaustro had a wingspan of 133 centimeters , and possessed about 1,000 tall, narrow bristle like teeth, which presumably were used in filter-feeding, much like modern flamingos....
          • Subfamily Gnathosaurinae
            • Cearadactylus
              Cearadactylus

              Cearadactylus was a large, mid-Cretaceous pterosaur. Its wingspan is estimated to have been around 4 to 5.5 metres , with a weight of perhaps 15 kilograms....
            • Gnathosaurus
              Gnathosaurus

              Gnathosaurus is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur known from a single species, G. subulatus, described in 1833. This pterosaur had an estimated wingspan of around 1.7 meters....
            • Huanhepterus
              Huanhepterus

              Huanhepterus is an extinct genus of Ctenochasmatidae pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic-age Huachihuanhe Formation of Qingyang, Gansu, People's Republic of China....
            • Plataleorhynchus
              Plataleorhynchus

              Plataleorhynchus was a genus of Ctenochasmatidae pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Tithonian-Berriasian-age Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Purbeck Limestone of Dorset, England....
      • Superfamily Dsungaripteroidea
        Dsungaripteroidea

        Dsungaripteroidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea....
        • Germanodactylus
          Germanodactylus

          Germanodactylus is a genus of dsungaripteroidea pterodactyloidea pterosaur from Late Jurassic-age rocks of Germany, including the Solnhofen limestone....
        • Herbstosaurus
          Herbstosaurus

          Herbstosaurus is the name given to a genus of pterosaur. It was first thought to be a Compsognathus-like small coelurosaurian dinosaur....
        • Kepodactylus
          Kepodactylus

          Kepodactylus is an extinct genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado, USA....
        • Normannognathus
          Normannognathus

          Normannognathus was a genus of Dsungaripteroidea pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-age Upper Jurassic Argiles d'Ecqueville of Octeville-sur-Mer, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France....
        • Tendaguripterus
          Tendaguripterus

          Tendaguripterus was a genus of dsungaripteroid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Middle Saurian Beds of Tendaguru, Mtwara Region, Tanzania....
        • Family Dsungaripteridae
      • Superfamily Azhdarchoidea
        Azhdarchoidea

        Azhdarchoidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea....
        • Family Lonchodectidae
        • Family Tapejaridae
          Tapejaridae

          Tapejaridae are a Family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the early Cretaceous Period . Members are currently known from Brazil and China, where the most primitive genera are found, indicating that the family has an Asian origin....
        • Thalassodromeus
          Thalassodromeus

          Thalassodromeus was a large pterosaur found in northeastern Brazil. It lived roughly from 122-109 million years ago. It shared the skies with its larger cousin- Tapejara ....
        • Tupuxuara
          Tupuxuara

          Tupuxuara is a genus of large, crested, toothless pterosaur, originally described in 1988 from the Cretaceous Santana Formation of Brazil by Alexander Kellner and Diogenes Campos, but since reported from North America as well....
        • Family Azhdarchidae
          Azhdarchidae

          Azhdarchidae is a Family of pterosaurs known primarily from the late Cretaceous Period, and which included some of the largest known flying animals of all time....


  • Pterodactyloids of uncertain relationships (incertae sedis
    Incertae sedis

    Incertae sedis , abbreviation "inc. sed.", is a term used to define a taxonomy group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined....
    )
    • Araripesaurus
      Araripesaurus

      Araripesaurus was the first pterosaur known from the famous Santana Formation of Brazil. Named from fragments of arm and wings, it is estimated to have had a wingspan of two meters....
    • Mesadactylus
      Mesadactylus

      Mesadactylus is an extinct genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado, USA....
    • Mythunga
      Mythunga

      Mythunga is a genus of pterodactyloidea pterosaur from the late Early Cretaceous of Australia. It is known from a partial skull found in marine rocks of the Albian-age Toolebuc Formation near Hughenden, Queensland, Queensland....
    • Puntanipterus
      Puntanipterus

      Puntanipterus was a genus of ?Dsungaripteridae pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous La Cruz Formation of San Luis, Argentina....
    • Santanadactylus
      Santanadactylus

      Santandactylus was a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Romualdo Member of the Lower Cretaceous Santana Formation, of Barra do Jardim, Araripe Plateau, Cear?, Brazil....


Phylogeny

Cladogram after Unwin (2003). For alternate cladograms, see List of pterosaur classifications
List of pterosaur classifications

This list of pterosaur classifications entails the various schemes used to classify pterosaurs throughout the years and varying views of these animals....
.

Uncertain placement (incertae sedis): Araripedactylus
Araripedactylus

Aripedactylus was a large genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur, known from a single wing bone found in the Early Cretaceous-age Santana Formation of Brazil. Details of its appearance, biology, and classification are as yet uncertain....
, Wyomingopteryx
Wyomingopteryx

"Wyomingopteryx" is an nomen nudum for a genus of pterosaur. It has never been described, and has only been mentioned in a description of a painting of Morrison Formation animals by Pat Redman, in a 1994 publication by Robert Bakker....
, Bennettazhia
Bennettazhia

Bennettazhia is a genus of pterosaur formerly known as Pteranodon oregonensis . A section of dorsal vertebrae was unearthed from the Lower Cretaceous beds of Wheeler County, Oregon, USA....
, Dermodactylus
Dermodactylus

Dermodactylus was a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming, USA....
, Haopterus
Haopterus

Haopterus was a genus of Ornithocheiridae pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, People's Republic of China....
, Mesadactylus
Mesadactylus

Mesadactylus is an extinct genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado, USA....
, Criorhynchus.