| Dimorphodontidae Temporal range: Late Triassic – Early Jurassic |
|
|---|---|
| Restoration of Dimorphodon macronyx | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| clade: | †Macronychoptera |
| Family: | †Dimorphodontidae Seeley, 1870 |
| Type species | |
| Pterodactylus macronyx Buckland, 1829 |
|
| Subgroups | |
Dimorphodontidae is a family of early "rhamphorhynchoid" pterosaurs named after Dimorphodon, that lived in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic.
A family Dimorphodontidae was named in 1870 by Harry Govier Seeley (as "Dimorphodontae") with Dimorphodon as the only known member.
In 2003 David Unwin defined a clade Dimorphodontidae, as the node clade consisting of the last common ancestor of Dimorphodon macronyx and Peteinosaurus zambellii and all its descendants. The defining species were the only dimorphodontids known. This group would be the most basal clade within Pterosauria with the exception of Preondactylus and the sister group of the Caelidracones within the Macronychoptera.[1]
According to Alexander Kellner, Dimorphodon is not closely related to Peteinosaurus and the concept would therefore be superfluous.