| Cuspicephalus Temporal range: Late Jurassic, | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Restoration | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | † Pterosauria |
| Family: | † Wukongopteridae |
| Subfamily: | † Wukongopterinae |
| Genus: | † Cuspicephalus Martill & Etches, 2011 |
| Species: | †C. scarfi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Cuspicephalus scarfi Martill & Etches, 2011 | |
Cuspicephalus is an extinct genus of monofenestratan pterosaur known from Dorset in England. Its fossil remains date back to the Late Jurassic period. [1]
Cuspicephalus is known from the holotype MJML K1918, a partial skull which is missing the mandible and dentition, preserved on a single slab. It was collected in December 2009 by Steve Etches from Kimmeridge Bay on the Isle of Purbeck coast of Dorset. This locality is referred to the Autissiodorensis ammonite biozone of the lower part of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation, dating to the early Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic, about 155.7-153 million years ago. [1]
Cuspicephalus was named by David M. Martill and Steve Etches in 2013 and the type species is Cuspicephalus scarfi. The generic name is derived from cuspis, Latin for "point", after its pointed rostrum, and a Latinised Greek κεφαλή, kephalè, for "head". The specific name honors artist and cartoonist Gerald Scarfe for his vicious caricatures which mostly have very pointy noses. [1]
The skull is lightly built and has a length of 326 millimetres. It is very elongated, being just 55 millimetres high at the back, and has an triangular profile. Almost half of its length is accounted for by a large skull opening, the fenestra nasoantorbitalis, a confluence of the original fenestra antorbitalis with the bony nostrils. In front of this opening a low and elongated snout is present. The rostral index sensu Naish & Martill of this snout, in this case its length divided by its maximum height, is 5.4, the highest value known for any pterosaur. In the snout about eleven or twelve teeth are present; the total for the upper jaw is estimated at twenty-five to thirty. The teeth are largest in front and gradually decline in size towards the back. They have a broad base with an oval cross-section. Perhaps they are pointing outwards to a degree but the deformation of the fossil by compression makes this uncertain.
On top of the skull, behind the snout proper, above the fenestra a longitudinal low bony crest is present. It consists of fibrous bone, vertically directed, which might have formed the base for a much higher crest of soft tissue. The crest starts above the twelfth tooth position; its limit at the back is unknown because of damage but it is considered unlikely that it extended as far as the eyes, the roof of the skull not showing any trace of it. The crest is highest in the (preserved) middle.
The describers did not perform a cladistic analysis to determine the exact place of Cuspicephalus in pterosaur phylogeny. Using the comparative method, they noticed a resemblance to Germanodactylus . Until recently pterosaurs with a head shape like that of Cuspicephalus would as a matter of course been assigned to the Pterodactyloidea. Today it is known however that more basal groups had comparable heads, so the describers placed Cuspicephalus as a member of the more general Monofenestrata. A more thorough analysis published in 2015 found that Cuspicephalus was likely a primitive monofenestratan pterosaur, and, specifically, a member of the group Wukongopteridae. [2]
Irritator is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now Brazil during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous Period, about 113 to 110 million years ago. It is known from a nearly complete skull found in the Romualdo Formation of the Araripe Basin. Fossil dealers had acquired this skull and illegally sold it to the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart. In 1996, the specimen became the holotype of the type species Irritator challengeri. The genus name comes from the word "irritation", reflecting the feelings of paleontologists who found the skull had been heavily damaged and altered by the collectors. The species name is a homage to the fictional character Professor Challenger from Arthur Conan Doyle's novels.
The Kimmeridge Clay is a sedimentary deposit of fossiliferous marine clay which is of Late Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous age and occurs in southern and eastern England and in the North Sea. This rock formation is the major source rock for North Sea oil. The fossil fauna of the Kimmeridge Clay includes turtles, crocodiles, sauropods, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs and ichthyosaurs, as well as a number of invertebrate species.
Germanodactylus is a genus of germanodactylid pterodactyloid pterosaur from Upper Jurassic-age rocks of Germany, including the Solnhofen Limestone. Its specimens were long thought to pertain to Pterodactylus. The head crest of Germanodactylus is a distinctive feature.
Parapsicephalus is a genus of long-tailed rhamphorhynchid pterosaurs from the Lower Jurassic Whitby, Yorkshire, England. It contains a single species, P. purdoni, named initially as a species of the related rhamphorhynchid Scaphognathus in 1888 but moved to its own genus in 1919 on account of a unique combination of characteristics. In particular, the top surface of the skull of Parapsicephalus is convex, which is otherwise only seen in dimorphodontians. This has been the basis of its referral to the Dimorphodontia by some researchers, but it is generally agreed upon that Parapsicephalus probably represents a rhamphorhynchid. Within the Rhamphorhynchidae, Parapsicephalus has been synonymized with the roughly contemporary Dorygnathus; this, however, is not likely given the many differences between the two taxa, including the aforementioned convex top surface of the skull. Parapsicephalus has been tentatively referred to the Rhamphorhynchinae subgrouping of rhamphorhynchids, but it may represent a basal member of the group instead.
Normannognathus is a genus of pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-age Upper Jurassic Argiles d'Octeville Formation of France. Initially, Normannognathus was classified to the family Germanodactylidae, sister taxon to Germanodactylus, however, many recent analysis have recovered Normannognathus in different phylogenetic positions, and depending on different authors, Normannognathus is either found as a basal member of the Dsungaripteroidea, as an indeterminate monofenestratan, or as the sister taxon of Cycnorhamphus within the family Gallodactylidae.
Kimmerosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the family Cryptoclididae. Kimmerosaurus is most closely related to Tatenectes.
Nannopterygius is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur that lived in the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. Fossils are known from England, Russia, and Norway.
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.
Monofenestrata is an unranked group of pterosaurs that includes the family Wukongopteridae and the suborder Pterodactyloidea.
Unwindia is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of what is now modern-day Brazil.
Archaeoistiodactylus is an extinct genus of pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China.
Guidraco is an extinct genus of toothed pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province, northeast China. According to many recent studies, Guidraco is a member of the group Anhanguerinae, a subfamily belonging to the larger group Anhangueridae.
Moganopterus is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of western Liaoning Province, China.
Bellubrunnus is an extinct genus of rhamphorhynchid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of southern Germany. It contains a single species, Bellubrunnus rothgaengeri. Bellubrunnus is distinguished from other rhamphorhynchids by its lack of long projections on the vertebrae of the tail, fewer teeth in the jaws, and wingtips that curve forward rather than sweep backward as in other pterosaurs.
Aerodactylus is a pterosaur genus containing a single species, Aerodactylus scolopaciceps, previously regarded as a species of Pterodactylus.
Steve Etches, MBE is an English plumber, fossil collector and preparator in Kimmeridge, on the Isle of Purbeck. From an early age on, Etches began to find, collect and restore the fossils he found on the Jurassic Coast. His collection is now housed in a museum called The Etches Collection which was purpose-built, both to house the collection and to replace the deteriorating local village hall. Etches has won many prizes for his palaeontology and was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen in 2014. In 2017, he also was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Southampton. On 22 April 2019, he appeared on the podcast Trees A Crowd with David Oakes.
The Etches Collection is an independent fossil museum located in the village of Kimmeridge, Purbeck, Dorset, England. It is based on the lifetime collection of Steve Etches, a fossil hunter for whom some of his finds have been named, from the local area on the Jurassic Coast, an SSI and World Heritage Site, especially around Kimmeridge Bay and the Kimmeridge Ledges.
Caihong is a genus of small paravian theropod dinosaur from China that lived during the Late Jurassic period.
Thalassodraco is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Late Jurassic (Tithonian) Kimmeridge Clay Formation of England. The type species, T. etchesi, was named in 2020, with the epithet in honour of the discoverer of the holotype, Steve Etches.
