Ctenochasmatoidea

Ctenochasmatoids
Temporal range: Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous, 152–105Ma
Fossil specimen of Ctenochasma elegans
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Clade: Caelidracones
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Infraorder: Archaeopterodactyloidea
Clade: Euctenochasmatia
Unwin, 2003
Subgroups
Synonyms

Pterodactylidae Bonaparte, 1838

Ctenochasmatoidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. It was defined by Unwin (2003) as the clade containing Cycnorhamphus suevicus, Pterodaustro guinazui, their most recent common ancestor, and all its descendants.[1] The earliest known ctenochasmatoid remains date to the Late Jurassic Kimmeridgian age. Previously, a fossil jaw recovered from the Middle Jurassic Stonesfield Slate formation in the United Kingdom, was considered the oldest known. This specimen supposedly represented a member of the family Ctenochasmatidae,[2] though further examination suggested it actually belonged to a teleosaurid stem-crocodilian instead of a pterosaur.[3]

Classification

Cladogram after Unwin (2003).[1]

Ctenochasmatoidea

?Feilongus



Gallodactylidae


Euctenochasmatia (=Pterodactylidae)

Pterodactylus



Lonchodectes


Ctenochasmatidae

Gnathosaurinae



Ctenochasmatinae





Majority-rule consensus tree after Pereda-Suberbiola et al. (2012)[4]

Pterodactylidae

Pterodactylus




Prejanopterus


Ctenochasmatoidea

Cycnorhamphus





Cearadactylus



Gnathosaurus



"Pterodactylus" longicollum





Pterodaustro



Ctenochasma



Gegepterus



Eosipterus







Pereda-Suberbiola et al. (2012) use Fabien Knoll's (2000) definition of Pterodactylidae;[4] Knoll defined Pterodactylidae as a clade containing "Pterodactylus antiquus, Ctenochasma elegans, their most recent common ancestor and all [its] descendants".[5] The analysis conducted by Pereda-Suberbiola et al. (2012) indicated that Ctenochasmatoidea is nested within such defined Pterodactylidae;[4] other analyses, such as Unwin's (2003)[1] make such defined Pterodactylidae nested within Ctenochasmatoidea instead.

Below is a cladogram showing the results of a phylogenetic analysis presented by Andres, Clark & Xu, 2014.[3]

Archaeopterodactyloidea 
 Germanodactylidae 

Normannognathus wellnhoferi




Germanodactylus cristatus



Germanodactylus rhamphastinus




 Euctenochasmatia 


Pterodactylus antiquus



Pterodactylus kochi





Ardeadactylus longicollum


 Ctenochasmatoidea 
 Gallodactylidae 

Cycnorhamphus suevicus



Gallodactylus canjuersensis



 Ctenochasmatidae 
 Gnathosaurinae 

Kepodactylus insperatus




Elanodactylus prolatus





Feilongus youngi



Moganopterus zhuiana





Huanhepterus quingyangensis




Plataleorhynchus streptophorodon




Gnathosaurus subulatus



Gnathosaurus macrurus








 Ctenochasmatinae 


Ctenochasma elegans



Ctenochasma roemeri





Pterodaustro guinazui




Eosipterus yangi




Beipiaopterus chenianus



Gegepterus changi











References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Unwin, D. M., (2003). "On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs." Pp. 139-190. in Buffetaut, E. & Mazin, J.-M., (eds.) (2003). Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs. Geological Society of London, Special Publications 217, London, 1-347.
  2. Buffetaut, E. and Jeffrey, P. (2012). "A ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Stonesfield Slate (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) of Oxfordshire, England." Geological Magazine, (advance online publication) doi:10.1017/S0016756811001154
  3. 3.0 3.1 Andres, B.; Clark, J.; Xu, X. (2014). "The Earliest Pterodactyloid and the Origin of the Group". Current Biology. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.030.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola, Fabien Knoll, José Ignacio Ruiz-Omeñaca, Julio Company and Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor (2012). "Reassessment of Prejanopterus curvirostris, a Basal Pterodactyloid Pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Spain". Acta Geologica Sinica 86 (6): 1389–1401. doi:10.1111/1755-6724.12008.
  5. Fabien Knoll (2000). "Pterosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous (?Berriasian) of Anoual, Morocco". Annales de Paléontologie 86 (3): 157–164. doi:10.1016/S0753-3969(00)80006-3.