Gnathosaurus
| Gnathosaurus Temporal range: Late Jurassic | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skull | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Family: | †Ctenochasmatidae |
| Subfamily: | †Gnathosaurinae |
| Genus: | †Gnathosaurus Meyer, 1833 |
| Species: | † G. subulatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Gnathosaurus subulatus Meyer, 1833 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Crocodylus multidens Münster, 1832 | |
Gnathosaurus (meaning 'jaw lizard') is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur known from a single species, G. subulatus, described in 1833. This pterosaur had an estimated wingspan of about 1.7 metres (5.6 ft). The slender, 28-cm (11 in)-long skull had up to 130 needle-like teeth arranged laterally around the spoon-shaped tip. Fragments of Gnathosaurus jaw were first discovered in 1832 in the Solnhofen limestones of southern Germany but were mistaken for a piece of teleosaurid crocodile jaw, hence the synonym Crocodylus multidens. Only when a skull was found in 1951 was the animal found to have been a pterosaur. The teeth arranged in a spoon shape may have been used to strain water for small animals, although this is conjectural.
Several paleontologists, such as Christopher Bennett, have suggested that a purported tiny Pterodactylus species, P. micronyx, is likely a juvenile of Gnathosaurus subulatus.[1]
References
- ↑ Bennett, S.C. (2002). "Soft tissue preservation of the cranial crest of the pterosaur Germanodactylus from Solnhofen." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 22(1): 43-48.
See also
- List of pterosaurs