Ctenochasmatidae

Ctenochasmatids Temporal range: Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous 152–105  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Ctenochasma elegans specimen from Solnhofen
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	† Pterosauria
Suborder:	† Pterodactyloidea
Clade:	† Ctenochasmatoidea
Family:	† Ctenochasmatidae Nopsca, 1928 [1]
Type species
† Ctenochasma roemeri Meyer, 1852
Subgroups
† Ardeadactylus ? † Aurorazhdarcho ? † Balaenognathus † Cathayopterus † Cratonopterus † Kepodactylus † Liaodactylus † Otogopterus † Petrodactyle ? † Pterofiltrus †Ctenochasmatinae † Ctenochasma †Pterodaustrini † Beipiaopterus † Eosipterus † Gegepterus † Pterodaustro †Gnathosaurinae † Garudapterus † Gnathosaurus † Lusognathus † Plataleorhynchus † Spathagnathus † Tacuadactylus †Moganopterinae † Elanodactylus ? † Feilongus † Forfexopterus ? † Gladocephaloideus ? † Huanhepterus ? † Moganopterus

Ctenochasmatid skulls demonstrating suspension feeding characteristics

Ctenochasmatidae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. They are characterized by their distinctive teeth, which are thought to have been used for filter-feeding. Ctenochasmatids lived from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous periods.

The earliest known ctenochasmatid remains date to the Late Jurassic Kimmeridgian age. Previously, a fossil jaw recovered from the Middle Jurassic Stonesfield Slate formation in the United Kingdom, was considered the oldest known. This specimen supposedly represented a member of the family Ctenochasmatidae, ^[2] though further examination suggested it actually belonged to a teleosaurid stem-crocodilian instead of a pterosaur. ^[3]

Classification

Below is cladogram following a topology recovered by Brian Andres, using the most recent iteration of his data set (Andres, 2021). Anders found that three subfamilies fall within the Ctenochasmatidae: Ctenochasmatinae, Gnathosaurinae and Moganopterinae, while also including several basal genera. ^[4]

Ctenochasmatidae	Ctenochasmatinae "Pterodactylus" micronyx Liaodactylus Ctenochasma Pterodaustrini Pterodaustro Beipiaopterus Gegepterus Kepodactylus Elanodactylus Moganopterinae Feilongus Moganopterus Ardeadactylus Gnathosaurinae Huanhepterus Plataleorhynchus Gnathosaurus

References

1. Nopcsa, F (1928). "The Genera of Reptiles" (PDF). Palaeobiologica. 1 (1): 163–188.
2. Buffetaut, E. and Jeffrey, P. (2012). "A ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Stonesfield Slate (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) of Oxfordshire, England." Geological Magazine, (advance online publication) doi : 10.1017/S0016756811001154
3. Andres, B.; Clark, J.; Xu, X. (2014). "The Earliest Pterodactyloid and the Origin of the Group". Current Biology. 24 (9): 1011–6. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.030 . PMID   24768054.
4. 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