Lonchodectidae

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Lonchodectids
Temporal range: Early-Late Cretaceous, 135–94  Ma
Pterodactylus compressirostris.jpg
Material referred to Lonchodectes
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Clade: Ornithocheiromorpha
Family: Lonchodectidae
Hooley, 1914
Genera
Synonyms
  • LonchodraconidaeRodrigues & Kellner, 2013

Lonchodectidae or Lonchodraconidae [1] [2] is a group of pterosaurs within the clade Pterodactyloidea. It has variously been considered to be within Ctenochasmatoidea, [3] Azhdarchoidea [4] and Pteranodontia. [5] [6] [7] They are notable for their high, conical tooth sockets and raised alveolar margins. [8]

Contents

Taxonomic history

Holotype specimen of Ikrandraco Ikrandraco-Paleozoological Museum of China.jpg
Holotype specimen of Ikrandraco

Lonchodectidae was first named by paleontologist Reginald Walter Hooley in 1914, [9] and was first considered to only contain species of Lonchodectes . [10] A taxonomic review of pterosaurs from the Cambridge Greensand in 2013 considered Lonchodectes a nomen dubium , and named a new family, Lonchodraconidae, for the remaining species, which had been moved to the new genus Lonchodraco . [11] Yixianopterus , [12] Unwindia , Prejanopterus , [13] and Serradraco [14] have also been considered possible lonchodectids. A taxonomic review of Lonchodectidae by Russian paleontologist Alexander Averianov in 2020 limited the clade to Ikrandraco , Lonchodectes, and Lonchodraco, thus finding Lonchodraconidae to be synonymous with the earlier name Lonchodectidae. [7]

Description

The most diagnostic features of Lonchodectidae pertain to the teeth and jaws. The teeth on both the upper and lower jaws are generally small, do not vary in size through the length of the jaw, and are placed on raised alveolar margins. The upper palate has a prominent ridge. One genus, Lonchodraco, has prominent crests at the tips of both the skull and mandible, while another, Ikrandraco, only has a crest on the mandible. Only Lonchodraco and Ikrandraco preserve postcrania, which is similar to other lanceodontians. [7]

Classification

Reconstruction of Lonchodectes, with hypothetical bauplan Lonchodectes-concepts.png
Reconstruction of Lonchodectes, with hypothetical bauplan

The cladogram below is a topology recovered by Longrich and colleagues in 2018. In their analysis, they placed the family Lonchodectidae as the sister taxon of the family Boreopteridae, while also placed within the more inclusive group Ornithocheiromorpha. [15]

Ornithocheiromorpha

Hongshanopterus

Lonchodectidae

Lonchodraco

Lonchodectes

Boreopteridae

Boreopterus

Zhenyuanopterus

  Lanceodontia  
Istiodactylidae

Nurhachius

Liaoxipterus

Istiodactylus

Aetodactylus

Cimoliopterus

Anhangueria

Other studies including Pêgas et al. (2019) and Holgado & Pêgas (2020) however, have only included Ikrandraco and Lonchodraco in this group, therefore using the name Lonchodraconidae instead. [1] [2]

Paleobiology

Lifestyle

Postcranial material similar to those of azhdarchoids has previously been referred to Lonchodectes; [16] however, this material has later been referred to the azhdarchoid Ornithostoma . [17] Ikrandraco is presumed to have been piscivorous, though this is not completely confirmed. [18] Lonchodraco bore sensor pits similar to those of modern probe feeding birds; though it appears to be unlikely that it was a probe feeder due to its large size and broad jaw ends, it has been suggested that it similarly procured food items on the ground or in water such as fish or insects. [19]

Related Research Articles

<i>Cearadactylus</i> Genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

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.

<i>Ornithocheirus</i> Genus of ornithocheirid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Ornithocheirus is a pterosaur genus known from fragmentary fossil remains uncovered from sediments in the UK and possibly Morocco.

Pterodactyloidea 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.

<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>Siroccopteryx</i> Genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Siroccopteryx is an extinct genus of anhanguerid pterodactyloid pterosaur, known from middle Cretaceous sediments in modern-day Morocco. Some researchers, such as David M. Unwin, consider the genus a junior synonym of Coloborhynchus.

<i>Coloborhynchus</i> Genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the Cretaceous period

Coloborhynchus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur belonging to the family Anhangueridae, though it has also been recovered as a member of the Ornithocheiridae in some studies. Coloborhynchus is known from the Lower Cretaceous of England, and depending on which species are included, possibly the Albian and Cenomanian ages as well. Coloborhynchus was once thought to be the largest known toothed pterosaur, however, a specimen of the closely related Tropeognathus is now thought to have had a larger wingspan.

<i>Lonchodectes</i> Genus of lonchodectid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Lonchodectes was a genus of lonchodectid pterosaur from several formations dating to the Turonian of England, mostly in the area around Kent. The species belonging to it had been assigned to Ornithocheirus until David Unwin's work of the 1990s and 2000s. Several potential species are known; most are based on scrappy remains, and have gone through several other generic assignments. The genus is part of the complex taxonomy issues surrounding Early Cretaceous pterosaurs from Brazil and England, such as Amblydectes, Anhanguera, Coloborhynchus, and Ornithocheirus.

Ornithocheiroidea Superfamily of pterodactyloid pterosaurs

Ornithocheiroidea is a group of pterosaurs within the extinct suborder Pterodactyloidea. They were typically large pterosaurs that lived from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods, with fossil remains found all over the world except Antarctica.

"Palaeornis" cliftii is a pterosaur species known from parts of a single humerus found in the early Cretaceous (Valanginian) of the upper Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation, England.

Ornithocheiridae Family of ornithocheiran pterosaurs

Ornithocheiridae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. These pterosaurs were among the last to possess teeth. Members that belong to this group lived from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods, around 140 to 90 million years ago.

<i>Uktenadactylus</i> Genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Uktenadactylus is a genus of anhanguerid pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous Paw Paw Formation of Texas, United States and the Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight, England. Fossil remains of Uktenadactylus dated back to the Early Cretaceous period, from about 125 to 100 million years ago.

Boreopteridae Family of pteranodontoid pterosaurs

Boreopteridae is a group of pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China.

<i>Lonchodraco</i> Genus of lonchodraconid pterosaur from the Cretaceous period

Lonchodraco is a genus of lonchodraconid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of southern England. The genus includes species that were previously assigned to other genera.

<i>Camposipterus</i> Genus of ornithocheiran pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Camposipterus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of England. Fossil remains of Camposipterus dated back to the Early Cretaceous, about 112 million years ago.

Anhangueria Clade of ornithocheiran pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period

Anhangueria is a group of pterosaurs belonging to the clade Pteranodontoidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods, around 140 to 92.5 million years ago. Anhangueria was named by paleontologists Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner in a review of Ornithocheirus species in 2013, they defined the clade as a branch-based taxon consisting of all pteranodontoids more closely related to Anhanguera blittersdorffi than to Istiodactylus latidens and Cimoliopterus cuvieri.

<i>Ikrandraco</i> Genus of lonchodraconid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Ikrandraco is a genus of lonchodraconid pterodactyloid pterosaur known from Lower Cretaceous rocks in northeastern China and the Cambridge Greensand of the UK. It is notable for its unusual skull, which features a crest on the lower jaw.

Ornithocheiromorpha Clade of pteranodontoid pterosaurs

Ornithocheiromorpha is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods, around 140 to 92.5 million years ago. Ornithocheiromorphs were discovered worldwide except Antarctica, though most genera were recovered in Europe, Asia and South America. They were the most diverse and successful pterosaurs during the Early Cretaceous, but throughout the Late Cretaceous they were replaced by better adapted and more advanced pterosaur species such the pteranodontids and azhdarchoids. The Ornithocheiromorpha was defined in 2014 by Andres and colleagues, and they made Ornithocheiromorpha the most inclusive clade containing Ornithocheirus, but not Pteranodon.

<i>Serradraco</i> Genus of pteranodontoid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Serradraco is a genus of Early Cretaceous pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Valanginian aged Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation in England. Named by Rigal et al. in 2017 with the description of a second specimen, it contains a single species, S. sagittirostris, which was formerly considered a species of Lonchodectes, L. sagittirostris. In 2020, Averianov suggested it did not belong in Lonchodectidae.

<i>Targaryendraco</i> Genus of targaryendraconian pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Targaryendraco is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of Hannover, northern Germany. Fossil remains of Targaryendraco dated back about 132 million years ago.

<i>Nicorhynchus</i> Genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the Cretaceous period

Nicorhynchus is a genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the Cretaceous period. It contains two species, the type species, N. capito, from the Cambridge Greensand of England, and N. fluviferox from the Kem Kem Group of Morocco. These species were previously assigned to Coloborhynchus.

References

  1. 1 2 Pêgas, R.V., Holgado, B., Leal, M.E.C., 2019. "Targaryendraco wiedenrothi gen. nov. (Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontoidea, Lanceodontia) and recognition of a new cosmopolitan lineage of Cretaceous toothed pterodactyloids", Historical Biology, 1–15. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1690482
  2. 1 2 Holgado, B.; Pêgas, R.V. (2020). "A taxonomic and phylogenetic review of the anhanguerid pterosaur group Coloborhynchinae and the new clade Tropeognathinae". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 65. doi: 10.4202/app.00751.2020 .
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  7. 1 2 3 Averianov, A.O. (2020). "Taxonomy of the Lonchodectidae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea)". Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS. 324 (1): 41–55. doi: 10.31610/trudyzin/2020.324.1.41 .
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  11. Rodrigues, T.; Kellner, A. (2013). "Taxonomic review of the Ornithocheirus complex (Pterosauria) from the Cretaceous of England". ZooKeys (308): 1–112. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.308.5559 . PMC   3689139 . PMID   23794925.
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  14. Rigal, S.; Martill, D. M.; Sweetman, S. C. (2017). "A new pterosaur specimen from the Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation (Cretaceous, Valanginian) of southern England and a review of Lonchodectes sagittirostris (Owen 1874)". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 455: 221–232. doi:10.1144/SP455.5. S2CID   133080548.
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  19. David M. Martill; Roy E. Smith; Nicholas Longrich; James Brown (2020). "Evidence for tactile feeding in pterosaurs: a sensitive tip to the beak of Lonchodraco giganteus (Pterosauria, Lonchodectidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of southern England". Cretaceous Research. in press: Article 104637. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104637. S2CID   225130037.