Azhdarchoidea

Azhdarchoids Temporal range: Late Jurassic-Late Cretaceous, 150–66Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Reconstructed skeleton of Quetzalcoatlus northropi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Clade:	†Ornithocheiroidea
Clade:	†Azhdarchoidea Nesov, 1984
Subgroups
†Microtuban †Ornithostoma †Vectidraco †Tapejaridae †Neoazhdarchia †Azhdarchidae †Chaoyangopteridae †Dsungaripteridae †Thalassodromidae

Azhdarchoidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea.

Classification

There are currently two primary but competing views of azhdarchoid relationships. The first, presented by Felipe Pinheiro and colleagues in 2011, considers the tapejarids to be a monophyletic clade including the thalassodromines and chaoyangopterines.^[1] The second, found by Lu et al. 2008 as well as Naish & Martill 2006, considers the tapejarids to be a paraphyletic grade of primitive azhdarchoids. All azhdarchoids closer to Azhdarcho than to Tapejara are included in the clade Neoazhdarchia ("new azhdarchids").^[2]

Below is a cladogram showing the results of a phylogenetic analysis presented by Andres & Myers, 2013.^[3] For alternate cladograms, see List of pterosaur classifications.

References