Eopterosauria Temporal range: Triassic, | |
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Preondactylus skeletal restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | † Pterosauria |
Clade: | † Eopterosauria Andres et al., 2014 |
Subgroups | |
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Eopterosauria is a proposed clade of basal pterosaurs from the Triassic. The term was first used in Andres et al. (2014) to include Preondactylus , Austriadactylus , Peteinosaurus and Eudimorphodontidae. Inside the group were two other new clades, Preondactylia, which included Preondactylus and Austriadactylus, and Eudimorphodontoidea, to include Eudimorphodontidae and Raeticodactylidae. Eopterosauria was defined as "the least inclusive clade containing Preondactylus buffarinii and Eudimorphodon ranzii". [1] The specimen BSP 1994, previously assigned to Eudimorphodon , was named the separate taxon Austriadraco in 2015, and assigned to the new family Austriadraconidae, but further classification was not described. [2] The following phylogenetic analysis follows the topology of Andres et al. (2014). [1]
Eopterosauria | |
In a 2020 study of early pterosaur interrelationships carried out by Matthew G. Baron, no evidence was found to support the existence of Eopterosauria as an early diverging clade within Pterosauria. Instead, the results of this later analyses suggested that most pterosaurs fall into either Caviramidae or Zambellisauria, with only a small number of taxa falling in a more 'basal' position. [3] The analyses presented by Baron (2020) supported previous hypotheses presented in research that had been published in the previous two years. [4] [5]
Eudimorphodon was a pterosaur that was discovered in 1973 by Mario Pandolfi in the town of Cene, Italy and described the same year by Rocco Zambelli. The nearly complete skeleton was retrieved from shale deposited during the Late Triassic, making Eudimorphodon one of the oldest pterosaurs known. It had a wingspan of about 100 centimeters (3.3 ft) and at the end of its long bony tail may have been a diamond-shaped flap like in the later Rhamphorhynchus. If so, the flap may have helped it steer while maneuvering in the air. Eudimorphodon is known from several skeletons, including juvenile specimens.
Cearadactylus is a genus of large anhanguerid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Romualdo Formation of Brazil, South America. Fossil remains of Cearadactylus dated back to the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous period, about 112 million years ago. The only known species is C. atrox, described and named in 1985 by Giuseppe Leonardi and Guido Borgomanero. The name refers to the Brazilian state Ceará, and combines this with Greek daktylos, "finger", a reference to the wing finger of pterosaurs. The Latin atrox means "frightful", a reference to the fearsome dentition of the species.
Scleromochlus is an extinct genus of small pterosauromorph archosaurs from the Late Triassic Lossiemouth Sandstone of Scotland. The genus contains the type and only species Scleromochlus taylori, named by Arthur Smith Woodward in 1907.
Preondactylus is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs from the Late Triassic that inhabited what is now Italy. It contains a single known species, Preondactylus buffarinii, which was discovered by Nando Buffarini in 1982 at the Forni Dolostone near Udine in the Preone valley of the Italian Alps.
Anurognathidae is a family of small, short-tailed pterosaurs that lived in Europe, Asia, and possibly North America during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Five genera are known: Anurognathus, from the Late Jurassic of Germany; Jeholopterus, from the Middle to Late Jurassic of China; Dendrorhynchoides, from the Middle Jurassic of China; Batrachognathus, from the Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan; and Vesperopterylus, from the Early Cretaceous of China. Bennett (2007) suggested that the holotype of Mesadactylus, BYU 2024, a synsacrum, belonged to an anurognathid, though this affinity has been questioned by other authors. Mesadactylus is from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of the United States. Indeterminate anurognathid remains have also been reported from the Middle Jurassic Bakhar Svita of Mongolia and the Early Cretaceous of North Korea.
Avemetatarsalia is a clade of diapsid reptiles containing all archosaurs more closely related to birds than to crocodilians. The two most successful groups of avemetatarsalians were the dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Dinosaurs were the largest terrestrial animals for much of the Mesozoic Era, and one group of small feathered dinosaurs has survived up to the present day. Pterosaurs were the first flying vertebrates and persisted through the Mesozoic before dying out at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event. Both dinosaurs and pterosaurs appeared in the Triassic Period, shortly after avemetatarsalians as a whole. The name Avemetatarsalia was first established by British palaeontologist Michael Benton in 1999. An alternate name is Pan-Aves, or "all birds", in reference to its definition containing all animals, living or extinct, which are more closely related to birds than to crocodilians.
Peteinosaurus was a prehistoric genus of pterosaur. It lived in the late Triassic period in the late Norian age, and at a wingspan of around 60 cm (24 in), was one of the smallest and earliest pterosaurs, although other estimates suggest a wingspan of up to 1 m (3.3 ft).
Pterosauromorpha is one of the two basic divisions of Ornithodira that includes pterosaurs and all taxa that are closer to them than to dinosaurs and their close relatives. In addition to pterosaurs, Pterosauromorpha also includes the basal clade Lagerpetidae and some other Late Triassic ornithodirans.
Austriadactylus is a genus of primitive pterosaur. The fossil remains were unearthed in Late Triassic rocks of Austria.
Caviramus is a genus of caviramid pterosaur from the Late Triassic lower Kössen Formation of the Northern Calcareous Alps of Switzerland.
Raeticodactylus is a genus of non-pterodactyloid pterosaur from the late Norian-early Rhaetian-age Upper Triassic lower Kössen Formation of the central Austroalpine of Grisons, Switzerland. It is known from holotype BNM 14524, a single disarticulated partial skeleton including an almost complete skull, found in August 2005. This genus was named and described in 2008 by its discoverer Rico Stecher; the type species is Raeticodactylus filisurensis. The specific name refers to Filisur.
Carniadactylus is a genus of pterosaur which existed in Europe during the Late Triassic period. The genus contains a single species, Carniadactylus rosenfeldi.
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.
Eudimorphodontidae is an extinct family of early pterosaurs from the Late Triassic of Europe. It was named by Peter Wellnhofer in 1978 to include Eudimorphodon ranzii. Some phylogenetic analyses suggested that Eudimorphodontidae is a junior synonym of Campylognathoididae, however more comprehensive analyses found Eudimorphodontidae to be basal to Macronychoptera that includes Campylognathoididae and more derived pterosaurs (Breviquartossa). Wang et al. (2009) found Eudimorphodontidae to include six species, but they didn't defined the clade. Brian Andres define Eudimorphodontidae and found Peteinosaurus to be most closely related to it. Furthermore, he found monophyletic Eudimorphodon clade, and defined two subfamilies within Eudimorphodontidae. The Eudimorphodontinae includes all taxa more closely related to Eudimorphodon ranzii than to Raeticodactylus filisurensis while the Raeticodactylinae includes all taxa more closely related to Raeticodactylus filisurensis than to Eudimorphodon ranzii. More recently, Raeticodactylus and Caviramus were moved into their own family, Raeticodactylidae. The below cladogram follows that analysis.
Arcticodactylus is a genus of basal pterosaur living during the Late Triassic in the area of present Greenland. Its only species was previously attributed to Eudimorphodon, and its closest relatives may have been Eudimorphodon or Austriadraco.
Austriadraco is a genus of pterosaur living during the Late Triassic in the area of present Austria. Its only species—Austriadraco dallavecchiai—was previously attributed to Eudimorphodon, and its closest relatives may have been Eudimorphodon or Arcticodactylus.
Raeticodactylidae is a family of eudimorphodontoid eopterosaurian pterosaurs that lived in Switzerland during the Late Triassic. The family includes Caviramus, and the type genus Raeticodactylus, which are both known from the Kössen Formation, around 205 mya. Raeticodactylidae was first used in 2014 by Andres et al., as a group of all pterosaurs closer to Raeticodactylus than Eudimorphodon. The following phylogenetic analysis follows the topology of Andres et al. (2014).
Seazzadactylus is a basal pterosaur genus that lived during the late Triassic in the area of present Italy.
Caviramidae is a group of basal pterosaurs. It was erected by paleontologist Matthew G. Baron in 2020. It was defined as the least inclusive clade that includes Arcticodactylus cromptonellus and Caviramus schesaplanensis.