Ardeadactylus

Ardeadactylus longicollum Temporal range: Late Jurassic, 152Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
SMNS 56603, the neotype of Ardeadactylus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Infraorder:	†Archaeopterodactyloidea
Clade:	†Euctenochasmatia
Genus:	†Ardeadactylus Bennett, 2013
Species:	† A. longicollum
Binomial name
Ardeadactylus longicollum (von Meyer, 1854)
Synonyms
Pterodactylus longicollum von Meyer, 1854 (type)

Ardeadactylus (from Ardea – meaning "heron", and also a name of a genus of herons – and dactylus, meaning "finger") is an extinct genus of pterodactylid archaeopterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, southern Germany. It contains a single species, Ardeadactylus longicollum, which was originally thought to be a species of Pterodactylus.^[1]

Illustration of the lost holoype from 1860

Only two specimens of Ardeadactylus are known to exist currently: SMNS 56603 (earlier SMNS 5802) found in 1874, a specimen from Nusplingen initially thought to belong to the species Pterodactylus suevicus Quenstedt (currently Cycnorhamphus)^[2] and the neotype of the species, and JME-SOS 2428, a specimen held at Jura Museum in Eichstätt. Other known specimens, including the holotype designated by Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer when he named the type species Pterodactylus longicollum in 1854,^[3] were lost during World War II.^[1] The original holotype, consisting of the skull, neck and anterior torso, had been found near Eichstätt in 1853 and was that year acquired for the Herzoglich Leuchtenbergische Naturalien-Kabinett by Professor Ludwig Frischmann.^[3] Its destruction motivated Peter Wellnhofer to assign a neotype in 1970.^[4]

Ardeadactylus is suspected to be a heron–like, long–necked long–legged piscivore.^[1] It was similar to Pterodactylus antiquus in its general body form, but seems to have been larger. Bennett (2013) estimated the wingspan of the neotype specimen to be 1.45 metres (4.8 ft); the referred specimen from the Jura Museum is more or less 10% larger.^[1] A. longicollum had fewer, fifteen per jaw, and relatively larger teeth than P. antiquus, possibly indicating that it preyed on larger fishes than Pterodactylus.^[1]

References