It has been suggested that this article be merged into Pterodactyloidea . (Discuss) Proposed since January 2025. |
Tapejaroids | |
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Skull fragments of Keresdrakon | |
Fossil cast of Arambourgiania | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | † Pterosauria |
Suborder: | † Pterodactyloidea |
Clade: | † Ornithocheiroidea |
Clade: | † Tapejaroidea Kellner, 1996 |
Subgroups | |
Tapejaroidea (or tapejaroids) is a group of pterosaurs belonging to the clade Ornithocheiroidea. Tapejaroids lived from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods, with one possible member, Tendaguripterus , extending the fossil range to the Late Jurassic period. [1] Tapejaroidea contains two groups, the Dsungaripteridae and the Azhdarchoidea, which in turn includes the azhdarchids, the group that contains some of the largest flying animals. The group was named by Brazilian paleontologist Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner in 1996.
Tapejaroidea was named by paleontologist Alexander Kellner from Brazil in 1996, [2] [3] and in 2003 it was given a phylogenetic definition by Kellner himself as the most recent common ancestor of Dsungaripterus , Tapejara and Quetzalcoatlus , and all their descendants. Tapejaroidea, in Kellner's 2003 study, was recovered as the sister taxon of the Pteranodontoidea, both within the group Ornithocheiroidea, and consisting of the groups Dsungaripteridae and Azhdarchoidea. [4] However, in a phylogenetic analysis made by Jaime Headden and Hebert Bruno Nascimento Campos in 2014, Tapejaroidea was recovered within the Azhdarchoidea, as a clade comprising the families Tapejaridae and Thalassodromidae. [5] The cladogram of their analysis is shown below:
More recently, the original definition of Tapejaroidea has been used in a number of phylogenetic analyses conducted in 2019 and 2020, meaning that Tapejaroidea and Pteranodontoidea were once again recovered as the sister taxa and within the larger Ornithocheiroidea. [6] [7] [8] [9] The cladogram below represents the phylogenetic analysis conducted by Kellner and colleagues in 2019, where they recovered Tapejaroidea as the more inclusive group containing both the Dsungaripteridae and the Azhdarchoidea. [8]
In 2021, Pêgas et al. named and officially registered two new clades: Azhdarchomorpha, the most inclusive clade containing Azhdarcho but not Tapejara or Thalassodromeus, and Alanqidae, containing Alanqa but not Chaoyangopterus or Azhdarcho. Their phylogeny is shown below: [10]
Tapejaroidea | |
Caulkicephalus is a genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the Isle of Wight off the coast of England. It lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 130 million years ago.
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.
Tupuxuara is a genus of thalassodromid pterosaur that lived during the Albian age of the Early Cretaceous, about 112 million years ago. Its remains were found in what is now the Romualdo Formation of the Santana Group in Brazil. Tupuxuara was named in 1988 by paleontologists Alexander Kellner and Diógenes de Almeida Campos. The name Tupuxuara means "familiar spirit" referring to a familiar spirit in the mythology of the Tupi people in Brazil. Two species have been named, T. longicristatus, the type species, and T. leonardii. An additional species has been named in 2013, T. deliradamus. However, the validity of this species has been put into question and it may not even belong to Tupuxuara.
Tapejaridae are a family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period. Members are currently known from Brazil, England, Hungary, Morocco, Spain, the United States, and China. The most primitive genera were found in China, indicating that the family has an Asian origin.
Eopteranodon is a genus of tapejarid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Beipiao City, Liaoning, China. The genus was named in 2005 by paleontologists Lü Junchang and Zhang Xingliao. The type species is Eopteranodon lii. A second species, E. yixianensis, was named in 2023, but its validity has been questioned.
Chaoyangopterus is a genus of chaoyangopterid pterosaur known from a partial skeleton found in Liaoning, China. Chaoyangopterus was found in rocks dating back to the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Dapingfang, Chaoyang.
Jidapterus is a genus of chaoyangopterid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. The genus was in 2003 named by Dong Zhiming, Sun Yue-Wu and Wu Shao-Yuan. The type species is Jidapterus edentus. The genus name is derived from Jílín Dàxué or "Jilin University" and a Latinized Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name means "toothless" in Latin.
Lonchodectidae or Lonchodraconidae is a group of pterosaurs within the clade Pterodactyloidea. It has variously been considered to be within Ctenochasmatoidea, Azhdarchoidea and Pteranodontoidea. They are notable for their high, conical tooth sockets and raised alveolar margins.
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.
Azhdarchoidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea, more specifically within the group Ornithocheiroidea. Pterosaurs belonging to this group lived throughout the Early and Late Cretaceous periods, with one tentative member, Tendaguripterus, that lived in the Late Jurassic period. The largest azhdarchoids include members of the family Azhdarchidae, examples of these are Quetzalcoatlus, Hatzegopteryx, and Arambourgiania. Other notable pterosaur families belonging to the Azhdarchoidea are the Tapejaridae, the Thalassodromidae, and the Chaoyangopteridae. This group contains some of the most advanced members of the pterosaur order.
Hongshanopterus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning, China.
Chaoyangopteridae is a family of pterosaurs within the larger group Azhdarchoidea. Chaoyangopterids lived mostly during the Early Cretaceous period, though possible members, Microtuban, Xericeps and Argentinadraco, may extend the fossil range to the Late Cretaceous.
Thalassodromidae is a group of azhdarchoid pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period. Its traditional members come from Brazil, which include the type genus Thalassodromeus, as well as Tupuxuara. Additionally, the recently named genus Kariridraco, also from Brazil, is another undisputed thalassodromid. However, other possible members also come from other places, including Morocco and Argentina.
Anhangueridae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. They were among the last pterosaurs to possess teeth. A recent study discussing the group considered the Anhangueridae to be typified by a premaxillary crest and a lateral expansion in the distal rostrum. The same study presented a cladistic analysis, for which an "agreement subtree" was calculated. The Anhangueridae was found to be sister taxon to the large crested Tropeognathus.
Aussiedraco is a genus of targaryendraconian pterodactyloid pterosaur from the early Cretaceous of Australia.
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.
Ornithocheirae is an extinct clade of pteranodontoid pterosaurs from the Early Cretaceous to the Late Cretaceous of Asia, Europe, North America and South America. It was named by Harry Seeley in 1870 as a family that contains Ornithocheirus and its relatives. The name was emended to Ornithocheiridae, to match the requirements of the ICZN Code that a family-ranked clade should end with an -idae suffix. Brian Andres (2010) in his review of pterosaur phylogeny, defined the name Ornithocheirae phylogenetically, as a node-based taxon consisting of the last common ancestor of Anhanguera and Ornithocheirus and all its descendants. Thus Ornithocheirae is defined to include two families, the Anhangueridae and the Ornithocheiridae, following the opinion of Alexander Kellner and Andres that these families should not be synonymized based on their original phylogenetical definitions. However, subsequent studies in 2019 have found Ornithocheirae to be a more inclusive group containing both Anhangueria and Targaryendraconia.
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.
Keresdrakon is an extinct genus of azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Goio-Erê Formation of Brazil, which dates back to the Early Cretaceous period, 125 to 100.5 million years ago. Keresdrakon contains a single species, Keresdrakon vilsoni.
Hamipteridae is a small family of anhanguerian pterosaurs known from the Early Cretaceous of China and Spain.