Tapejaromorpha

Last updated

Tapejaromorphs
Temporal range:
Early Cretaceous - Late Cretaceous, 125–66.5  Ma
Sinopterus dongi.jpg
Fossil specimen of Sinopterus dongi
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Clade: Azhdarchoidea
Clade: Tapejaromorpha
Andres et al., 2014
Subgroups

Tapejaromorpha (the "J" is pronounced the same as in English) 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  
  Neoazhdarchia  

Thalassodrominae Tupuxuara leonardii white background.jpg

Dsungaripteridae

Chaoyangopteridae

Azhdarchidae Gfp-quetzalcaotlus white background.jpg

Tapejaromorpha

Bennettazhia oregonensis

Eopteranodon lii

"Sinopterus" gui

Nemicolopterus crypticus

Huaxiapterus jii

Tapejaridae

Related Research Articles

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

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.

<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 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 100 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 2014, and assigned back to Thalassodromeus as the species T. oberlii in 2018. Another species was named in 2015 based on a supposed crest fragment, but this was later shown to be part of a turtle shell.

Tapejaridae 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, the United States, and China. The most primitive genera were found in China, indicating that the family has an Asian origin.

Gallodactylidae Family of ctenochasmatoid pterosaurs

Gallodactylidae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Gallodactylids differed from other related pterosaurs in several distinct features, including fewer than 50 teeth present only in the jaw tips, and rounded crests present on the rear portion of the skull and jaws but not near the ends of their snouts. At least some species possessed jaw flanges, possibly used to bissect hard-shelled prey.

<i>Bakonydraco</i> Genus of tapejarid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

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.

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 and only species is Eopteranodon lii.

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

Sinopterus was 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. Three species have been classified in this genus, though only two are generally 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.

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

Huaxiapterus is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. It is the second genus of tapejarid from this formation, after Sinopterus. Three species are known, though they may not actually form a natural group with each other. It was first named by Lü Junchang and Yuan Chongxi.

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.

Azhdarchoidea 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. It is notable for its large cranial crest, composed partly of bone and partly of soft tissue. The genus Tupandactylus possibly contains two species, both bearing differently sized/shaped crests that may have been used to signal and display for other Tupandactylus, much as toucans use their bright bills to signal to one another. Tupandactylus crests consisted of a semicircular crest over the snout, and in the case of the type species T. imperator, a bony prong which extended back behind the head. A second species, T. navigans, lacked this prong, and had a much more vertical crest. Soft tissue impressions also show that the small bony crests were extended by a much larger structure made of a keratinous material. The complete crest of T. navigans rose in a sharp, sail-like "dome" high above the rest of the skull.

Chaoyangopteridae Family of azhdarchoid pterosaurs

Chaoyangopteridae is a family of pterosaurs within the larger group Azhdarchoidea. Chaoyangopterids lived mostly during the Early Cretaceous period, though a possible member, Microtuban, may extend the fossil range to the Late Cretaceous.

Thalassodrominae 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 the United States, 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.

Germanodactylidae Family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs

Germanodactylidae is a controversial group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. It was first named by Yang Zhongjian in 1964, and given a formal phylogenetic definition in 2014 by Brian Andres, James Clark, and Xu Xing. They defined it as the least inclusive clade containing Germanodactylus cristatus and Normannognathus wellnhoferi, which they considered to be close relatives at the time. However, more recent studies by the same researchers have found that these pterosaurs may be only distantly related.

Dsungaripteridae Family of ornithocheiroid pterosaurs

Dsungaripteridae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. They were robust pterosaurs with good terrestrial abilities and flight honed for inland settings.

Eupterodactyloidea Infraorder of pterodactyloid pterosaurs

Eupterodactyloidea is an extinct group of pterodactyloid pterosaurs that existed from the latest Late Jurassic to the latest Late Cretaceous periods. Eupterodactyloids lived on all continents except Antarctica.

Novialoidea Clade of macronychopteran pterosaurs

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.

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

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

<i>Javelinadactylus</i> Genus of thalassodromine pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Javelinadactylus is a pterosaur recovered from the Late Cretaceous Javelina Formation in Texas. The type and only species is Javelinadactylus sagebieli.

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 .