Ludodactylus

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Ludodactylus
Fossil range: Early Cretaceous

Fossil

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Pterosauria
Suborder:	Pterodactyloidea
Family:	Ornithocheiridae
Genus:	Ludodactylus Frey, Martill, and Buchy, 2003

Binomial name

Ludodactylus sibbicki
Frey et al., 2003

Ludodactylus (meaning "play finger", referring to the fact that, like many toy pterosaurs, it combined teeth with a Pteranodon-like head crest) was a genus of ornithocheirid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Ceará, Brazil. It is based on SMNK PAL 3828, a skull missing part of the head crest. Unlike other ornithocheirids, it had no premaxillary crest, but did have a crest at the back of the skull. Trapped between the mandibles is a yucca leaf; apparently the animal got it caught in its beak and unsuccessfully tried to dislodge it (the edge of the leaf is frayed), and then possibly died from starvation or a complication of starving. Its size is not known, but the skull would have been more than 66 cm (26 in) long.^[1]

[edit] References

^ Frey, E., Martill, D., and Buchy, M. (2003). A new crested ornithocheirid from the Lower Cretaceous of northeastern Brazil and the unusual death of an unusual pterosaur. In: Buffetaut, E., and Mazin, J.-M. (eds.). Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs. Geological Society Special Publication 217:56-63. ISBN 1-86239-143-2.