Tapejaromorpha

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Tapejaromorpha
Temporal range:
Early Cretaceous - Late Cretaceous, 125–85  Ma
Sinopterus dongi.jpg
Fossil specimen of Sinopterus dongi
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Clade: Neoazhdarchia
Clade: Tapejaromorpha
Andres et al., 2014
Subgroups

Tapejaromorpha is a group of pterosaurs within the clade Azhdarchoidea. The fossil remains of tapejaromorphs dated back to the Cretaceous period.

The Tapejaromorpha was defined in 2014 by Andres and colleagues. They made Tapejaromorpha the most inclusive clade containing Tapejara but not Quetzalcoatlus. [1] Martill and Naish had previously proposed this same definition for Tapejaridae, but did not formalize it. [2] Andres and colleagues instead defined Tapejaridae more narrowly, as the clade Tapejara + Sinopterus. [1]

  Azhdarchoidea  

In the 2024 description of Torukjara , Pêgas recovered the following relationships for the Tapejaromorpha, and erected the new clade Tapejariformes to encompass caupedactylians and tapejarids: [3]

Azhdarchoidea

Related Research Articles

<i>Tapejara wellnhoferi</i> Genus of tapejarid pterosaur

Tapejara is a genus of Brazilian pterosaur from the Cretaceous Period. Tapejara crests consisted of a semicircular crest over the snout, and a bony prong which extended back behind the head. It was a small pterosaur, with a wingspan of approximately 1.23–1.3 metres (4.0–4.3 ft).

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

Tupuxuara is a genus of large, crested, and toothless pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of what is now the Romualdo Formation of the Santana Group, Brazil, about 125 to 112 million years ago. Tupuxuara is a close relative of Thalassodromeus, and both form a group that is either called Thalassodrominae or Thalassodromidae.

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

Thalassodromeus is a genus of pterosaur that lived in what is now Brazil during the Early Cretaceous period, about a hundred million years ago. The original skull, discovered in 1983 in the Araripe Basin of northeastern Brazil, was collected in several pieces. In 2002, the skull was made the holotype specimen of Thalassodromeus sethi by palaeontologists Alexander Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. The generic name means "sea runner", and the specific name refers to the Egyptian god Seth due to its crest being supposedly reminiscent of Seth's crown. Other scholars have pointed out that the crest was instead similar to the crown of Amon. A jaw tip was assigned to T. sethi in 2005, became the basis of the new genus Banguela in 2015, and assigned back to Thalassodromeus as the species T. oberlii in 2018, though other researchers consider it a valid genus. Another species was described in 2015 based on a supposed crest fragment, but this was later shown to be part of a turtle shell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tapejaridae</span> Family of azhdarchoid pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period

Tapejaridae are a family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period. Members are currently known from Brazil, England, Hungary, Morocco, Spain, and China. The most primitive genera were found in China, indicating that the family has an Asian origin.

<i>Bakonydraco</i> Genus of tapejarid pterosaur

Bakonydraco is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of what is now the Csehbánya Formation of the Bakony Mountains, Iharkút, Veszprém, western Hungary.

<i>Eopteranodon</i> Genus of tapejarid pterosaur

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.

<i>Sinopterus</i> Genus of tapejarid pterosaur

Sinopterus is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. It was first described and named by Wang Xiaolin and Zhou Zhonghe. Historically, there were multiple species attributed to the genus although only one is considered to be valid. Sinopterus is known for its proportionally large skull, which has a birdlike pointed beak, a long bony crest that starts with a tall premaxilla and goes back along the middle of the skull to form a point overhanging the rear of the skull, and its lack of teeth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ornithocheiroidea</span> Clade 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azhdarchoidea</span> Superfamily of ornithocheiroid pterosaurs

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. The Azhdarchoidea has been recovered as either closely related to the Ctenochasmatoidea, as the sister taxon of the Pteranodontoidea within the Ornithocheiroidea, or within the Tapejaroidea, which in turn was also within the Ornithocheiroidea.

<i>Tupandactylus</i> Genus of tapejarid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Tupandactylus is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaoyangopteridae</span> Family of azhdarchoid pterosaurs

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thalassodrominae</span> Subfamily of azhdarchoid pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period

Thalassodrominae or Thalassodromidae is a group of azhdarchoid pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period. Its traditional members come from Brazil, however, other possible members also come from other places, including Morocco and Argentina. Thalassodrominae is considered either to be a subfamily within the pterosaur family Tapejaridae, or as a distinct family, Thalassodromidae, within the clade Neoazhdarchia, closely related to dsungaripterids or azhdarchids.

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

Vectidraco, is a genus of azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anhangueria</span> 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.

Alamodactylus is an extinct genus of pteranodontian pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of Texas, southern United States. It contains a single species, Alamodactylus byrdi.

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

Banguela is a genus of azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of what is now Brazil. Only one species is known, Banguela oberlii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tapejaroidea</span> Clade of ornithocheiroid pterosaurs

Tapejaroidea 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. 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.

<i>Simurghia</i> Genus of pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Simurghia is a genus of pterosaur from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco, a basin that dates to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. It was published in 2018 by paleontologists Nicholas R. Longrich, David M. Martill, and Brian Andres, along with two other pterosaurs from the same basin: Alcione and Barbaridactylus. The type species is S. robusta. A possible second species, S. ("Nyctosaurus") lamegoi, is known from the Campanian-Maastrichtian age strata of Brazil.

<i>Wellnhopterus</i> Genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Wellnhopterus is an azhdarchid pterosaur recovered from the Late Cretaceous Javelina Formation in Texas that was previously identified as a thalassodromine. It consists of a set of upper and lower jaws, as well as some cervical vertebrae and a fragmentary long bone. In July 2021, the jaws were given the genus name "Javelinadactylus", with the type and only species as "J. sagebieli"; however, this article has now been retracted. In a paper published in December 2021, the complete holotype was independently named Wellnhopterus, with the only species being W. brevirostris. As of 2022, this is the formal name of this pterosaur.

<i>Huaxiadraco</i> Genus of tapejarid pterosaur

Huaxiadraco is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. It is the third valid genus of tapejarid from the Jehol Biota, after Sinopterus and Eopteranodon. It contains one species, Huaxiadraco corollatus, originally assigned to the defunct genus Huaxiapterus.

References

  1. 1 2 Andres, B.; Clark, J.; Xu, X. (2014). "The Earliest Pterodactyloid and the Origin of the Group". Current Biology. 24: 1011–6. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.030 . PMID   24768054.
  2. Martill, D.M.; Naish, D. (2006). "Cranial crest development in the azhdarchoid pterosaur Tupuxuara, with a review of the genus and tapejarid monophyly". Palaeontology. 49: 925–941. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00575.x .
  3. Pêgas, Rodrigo V. (2024-06-10). "A taxonomic note on the tapejarid pterosaurs from the Pterosaur Graveyard site (Caiuá Group, ?Early Cretaceous of Southern Brazil): evidence for the presence of two species". Historical Biology : 1–22. doi:10.1080/08912963.2024.2355664. ISSN   0891-2963.