Diopecephalus

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Diopecephalus
Temporal range: Tithonian
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Pterodactylus kochi 2.jpg
Fossil in Augsburg Naturmuseum
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Clade: Euctenochasmatia
Genus: Diopecephalus
Seeley, 1871
Species
  • D. kochi(type) (Wagner, 1837 (originally Ornithocephalus)

Diopecephalus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Lower Tithonian (Upper Jurassic) of the Lithographic Limestone, Bavaria, Germany. The type and only species is D. kochi, although the name has been applied to Pterodactylus longicollum , with longicollum erroneously listed as the type species. [1]

Contents

Juvenile type specimen Bsp as xix.png
Juvenile type specimen

Assigned species

Like many pterosaurs, it has had a confusing taxonomic history, being given names by various authorities which identify it with four other genera:

In 2017, Steven U. Vidovic and David M. Martill resurrected the genus Diopecephalus for Pterodactylus kochi, [2] a taxon generally regarded as synonymous with Pterodactylus antiquus. [3] [4] Though historically considered distinct from antiquus, most modern analyses of kochi anatomy strongly suggest it represents a juvenile P. antiquus. Pterosaur expert Christopher Bennett noted that some allegedly diagnostic kochi anatomy actually reflected measurement errors of the kochi holotype, and that once corrected the two species cannot be adequately distinguished from one another. [4] Vidovic and Martill's suggestion that kochi is taxonomically distinct rely on a combination of characteristics rather than autapomorphies, including features such as the slope of the snout and the rounded shape of the back of the skull, the shape and distribution of teeth, and the length and depth of the cervical vertebrae. [2] Most of these features are typical for Pterodactylus or are known to vary with growth stage [1] [3] [4] and, as per Vidovic and Martill's previous work with another resurrected Pterodactylus-like genus, Aerodactylus , arguments discounting individual variation and preservational factors (e.g., specimen orientation, compression) from true taxonomic distinction were not provided. [5] Further work is likely needed to validate D. kochi as a genuine taxon, and not a synonym of P. antiquus.

Classification

Below is a cladogram showing the results of a phylogenetic analysis presented by Andres, Clark & Xu, 2014. In the analysis, they identified Diopecephalus as Pterodactylus kochi, and sister taxon of Pterodactylus antiquus within the clade Euctenochasmatia. [6]

Archaeopterodactyloidea  
  Germanodactylidae  

Normannognathus wellnhoferi

Germanodactylus cristatus

Germanodactylus rhamphastinus

  Euctenochasmatia  

Pterodactylus antiquus

Pterodactylus kochi (Diopecephalus)

Ardeadactylus longicollum

Ctenochasmatoidea

Related Research Articles

<i>Pterodactylus</i> Genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic

Pterodactylus is an extinct genus of pterosaurs. It is thought to contain only a single species, Pterodactylus antiquus, which was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying reptile.

<i>Germanodactylus</i> Genus of germanodactylid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic

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.

<i>Rhamphocephalus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Rhamphocephalus is an extinct genus of fossil reptile from the Middle Jurassic Great Oolite Group of Gloucestershire, England. The name was erected as a genus of pterosaur and became a 'wastebasket taxon' for British Jurassic pterosaur remains until a recent revision. Rhamphocephalus comprises several named species, two of which are pterosaurian, but the type species - R. prestwichi - is based on remains now identified as a thalattosuchian. Because it is poorly preserved and lacks features that distinguish it from other thalattosuchians, R. prestwichi is considered an invalid species and the genus Rhamphocephalus is a nomen dubium. Reassessments of other Rhamphocephalus species suggest they are also undiagnostic to species level, although they have properties allowing referral to some Jurassic pterosaur groups.

<i>Ctenochasma</i> Genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic

Ctenochasma is a genus of Late Jurassic ctenochasmatid pterosaur belonging to the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Three species are currently recognized: C. roemeri, C. taqueti, and C. elegans. Their fossilized remains have been found in the Solnhofen Limestone of Bavaria, Germany, the "Purbeck Group" of northeastern Germany, and the Calcaires tâchetés of eastern France.

<i>Gnathosaurus</i> Genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic period

Gnathosaurus is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur containing two species: G. subulatus, named in 1833 from the Solnhofen Limestone of Germany, and G. macrurus, known from the Purbeck Limestone of the UK. Its fossil remains dated back to the Late Jurassic period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pterodactyloidea</span> Suborder of monofenestratan pterosaurs

Pterodactyloidea is one of the two traditional suborders of pterosaurs, and contains the most derived members of this group of flying reptiles. They appeared during the middle Jurassic Period, and differ from the basal rhamphorhynchoids by their short tails and long wing metacarpals. The most advanced forms also lack teeth, and by the late Cretaceous, all known pterodactyloids were toothless. Many species had well-developed crests on the skull, a form of display taken to extremes in giant-crested forms like Nyctosaurus and Tupandactylus. Pterodactyloids were the last surviving pterosaurs when the order became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period, together with the non-avian dinosaurs and most marine reptiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallodactylidae</span> Family of ctenochasmatoid pterosaurs

Gallodactylidae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Gallodactylids differed from other related pterosaurs in several distinct features, including fewer than 50 teeth present only in the jaw tips, and rounded crests present on the rear portion of the skull and jaws but not near the ends of their snouts. At least some species possessed jaw flanges, possibly used to bissect hard-shelled prey.

<i>Ornithostoma</i> Genus of azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Ornithostoma is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period of Europe, around 110 million years ago. Ornithostoma was once thought to have been a senior synonym of the pteranodontid Pteranodon due to its toothless anatomy and prior naming.

<i>Cycnorhamphus</i> Genus of gallodactylid pterosaur Late Jurassic

Cycnorhamphus is a genus of gallodactylid ctenochasmatoid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic period of France and Germany, about 152 million years ago. It is probably synonymous with the genus Gallodactylus.

<i>Altmuehlopterus</i> Genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic

Altmuehlopterus is a genus of pterosaur belonging to the Pterodactyloidea. It lived in the Late Jurassic of what is now Germany. It was formerly known as "Daitingopterus", a nomen nudum, informally coined in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ctenochasmatoidea</span> Superfamily of archaeopterodactyloid pterosaurs

Ctenochasmatoidea is a group of early pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Their remains are usually found in what were once coastal or lake environments. They generally had long wings, long necks, and highly specialized teeth.

Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1833.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euctenochasmatia</span> Clade of archaeopterodactyloid pterosaurs

Euctenochasmatia is an extinct group of pterodactyloid pterosaurs. It was named by David Unwin in 2003 as the group that contains the most recent common ancestor of Pterodactylus and Ctenochasma, and all their descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germanodactylidae</span> Family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs

Germanodactylidae is a controversial group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. It was first named by Yang Zhongjian in 1964, and given a formal phylogenetic definition in 2014 by Brian Andres, James Clark, and Xu Xing. They defined it as the least inclusive clade containing Germanodactylus cristatus and Normannognathus wellnhoferi, which they considered to be close relatives at the time. However, more recent studies by the same researchers have found that these pterosaurs may be only distantly related.

<i>Aurorazhdarcho</i> Genus of aurorazhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic

Aurorazhdarcho is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatoid pterosaur known from the Late Jurassic period of what is now Bavaria, southern Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eupterodactyloidea</span> Infraorder of pterodactyloid pterosaurs

Eupterodactyloidea is an extinct group of pterodactyloid pterosaurs that existed from the latest Late Jurassic to the latest Late Cretaceous periods. Eupterodactyloids lived on all continents except Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeopterodactyloidea</span> Infraorder of pterodactyloid pterosaurs

Archaeopterodactyloidea is an extinct clade of pterodactyloid pterosaurs that lived from the middle Late Jurassic to the latest Early Cretaceous periods of Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. It was named by Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner in 1996 as the group that contains Germanodactylus, Pterodactylus, the Ctenochasmatidae and the Gallodactylidae. In 2003, Kellner defined the clade as a node-based taxon consisting of the last common ancestor of Pterodactylus, Ctenochasma and Gallodactylus and all its descendants. Although phylogenetic analyses that based on David Unwin's 2003 analysis do not recover monophyletic Archaeopterodactyloidea, phylogenetic analyses that based on Kellner's analyses, or the analyses of Brian Andres recover monophyletic Archaeopterodactyloidea at the base of the Pterodactyloidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novialoidea</span> Clade of macronychopteran pterosaurs

Novialoidea is an extinct clade of macronychopteran pterosaurs that lived from the latest Early Jurassic to the latest Late Cretaceous, their fossils having been found on all continents except Antarctica.

<i>Ardeadactylus</i> Genus of ctenochasmatoid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic

Ardeadactylus is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatoid pterosaur known from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, southern Germany. It contains a single species, Ardeadactylus longicollum, which was originally thought to be a species of Pterodactylus, as P. longicollum.

<i>Aerodactylus</i> Genus of archaeopterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic

Aerodactylus is a pterosaur genus containing a single species, Aerodactylus scolopaciceps, previously regarded as a species of Pterodactylus.

References

  1. 1 2 Bennett, S. Christopher (2006). "Juvenile specimens of the pterosaur Germanodactylus cristatus, with a review of the genus". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 26 (4): 872–878. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[872:jsotpg]2.0.co;2. S2CID   86460861.
  2. 1 2 Vidovic, Steven U.; Martill, David M. (2017). "The taxonomy and phylogeny of Diopecephalus kochi (Wagner, 1837) and Germanodactylus rhamphastinus (Wagner, 1851)" (PDF). Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 455: 125–147. doi:10.1144/SP455.12. S2CID   219204038.
  3. 1 2 Jouve, Stephane (2004-09-10). "Description of the skull of a Ctenochasma (Pterosauria) from the latest Jurassic of eastern France, with a taxonomic revision of European Tithonian Pterodactyloidea". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (3): 542–554. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0542:dotsoa]2.0.co;2. ISSN   0272-4634. S2CID   86019483.
  4. 1 2 3 Bennett, S. Christopher (2012-12-09). "New information on body size and cranial display structures of Pterodactylus antiquus, with a revision of the genus". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 87 (2): 269–289. doi:10.1007/s12542-012-0159-8. ISSN   0031-0220. S2CID   83722829.
  5. Bennett, S. Christopher (2018). "New smallest specimen of the pterosaur Pteranodon and ontogenetic niches in pterosaurs". Journal of Paleontology. 92 (2): 254–271. doi:10.1017/jpa.2017.84. ISSN   0022-3360. S2CID   90893067.
  6. 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.

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