Tapejaroidea

Last updated

Tapejaroids
Temporal range:
Early - Late Cretaceous, 145–66  Ma
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Possible Late Jurassic record [1]
Keresdrakon skull parts.jpg
Skull fragments of Keresdrakon
Arambourgiania philadelphiae.JPG
Fossil cast of Arambourgiania
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
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.

Classification

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:

Azhdarchoidea
Dsungaripteridae

Banguela oberlii

Dsungaripterus weii

Noripterus complicidens

Neoazhdarchia
Chaoyangopteridae

Chaoyangopterus zhangi

Shenzhoupterus chaoyangensis

Azhdarchidae

Quetzalcoatlus sp. Quetzalcoatlus07.jpg

Azhdarcho lancicollis

Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis

Tapejaroidea
Thalassodromidae

Tupuxuara leonardii Tupux longDB2.jpg

Thalassodromeus sethi

Tapejaridae

Tupandactylus imperator TapimpDB.jpg

Tapejara wellnhoferi

Sinopterus dongi

Eopteranodon lii

Huaxiapterus corollatus

Huaxiapterus benxiensis

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]

Tapejaroidea
Dsungaripteridae

Dsungaripterus weii

Noripterus parvus

Azhdarchoidea
Azhdarchidae

Azhdarcho lancicollis

Quetzalcoatlus sp. Quetzalcoatlus07.jpg

Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis

Chaoyangopteridae

Chaoyangopterus zhangi

Jidapterus edentus

Shenzhoupterus chaoyangensis

Tapejaromorpha

Keresdrakon vilsoni

Tapejaridae
Thalassodrominae

Thalassodromeus sethi

Tupuxuara leonardii Tupux longDB2.jpg

Tapejarinae

Caupedactylus ybaka

Aymberedactylus cearensis

Eopteranodon lii

"Huaxiapterus" benxiensis

"Huaxiapterus" corollatus

Sinopterus dongi

Tapejarini

Europejara olcadesorum

Caiuajara dobruskii

Tapejara wellnhoferi

Tupandactylus imperator TapimpDB.jpg

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
Dsungaripteridae

Dsungaripterus

Noripterus

Azhdarchoidea
Tapejaridae
Thalassodrominae

Tupuxuara

Thalassodromeus oberlii

Thalassodromeus sethi

Tapejarinae

Aymberedactylus

Caupedactylus

Bakonydraco

" Huaxiapterus " corollatus

Eopteranodon

Sinopterus

Europejara

Tupandactylus

Caiuajara

Tapejara

Azhdarchomorpha
Alanqidae

Alanqa

Keresdrakon

Chaoyangopteridae

Shenzhoupterus

Argentinadraco

Xericeps

Chaoyangopterus

Jidapterus

Lacusovagus

Radiodactylus

Azhdarchidae

Eurazhdarcho

Aralazhdarcho

Phosphatodraco

Zhejiangopterus

Azhdarcho

Quetzalcoatlinae

Cryodrakon

Quetzalcoatlus

Albadraco

Hatzegopteryx

Aerotitan

Arambourgiania

Mistralazhdarcho

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References

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