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''Ardeadactylus'' (from ''Ardea'' – meaning "
In 2017, a phylogenetic analysis by Steven Vidovic and David Martill found ''Ardeadactylus'' within the family Aurorazhdarchidae, sister taxon to '' Aurorazhdarcho''. Their cladogram is shown below:
In 2018 however, Nicholas Longrich and colleagues had recovered a different set of relationships for
heron
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
", and also a name of a genus of herons – and ''dactylus'', meaning "finger") is an extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
genus of ctenochasmatoid
Ctenochasmatoidea is a group of early pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Their remains are usually found in what were once coastal or lake environments. They generally had long wings, long necks, and highly specialized teeth.
Evolu ...
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'', as ''P. longicollum''.
History
Only two specimens of ''Ardeadactylus'' are known to exist currently: SMNS 56603 (earlier SMNS 5802) found in 1874, a specimen fromNusplingen
Nusplingen is a municipality of the Zollernalbkreis, Zollernalb district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
In 1803, Nusplingen became a possession of the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who traded the town in 1813 to the Kingdom ...
initially thought to belong to the species ''Pterodactylus suevicus
''Cycnorhamphus'' (meaning "swan beak") is a genus of Gallodactylidae, gallodactylid ctenochasmatoidea, ctenochasmatoid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic period of France and Germany, about 152 million years ago. It is probably synonymous with the ...
'' (currently ''Cycnorhamphus''), and the neotype of the species, JME-SOS 2428, a specimen held at Jura Museum
The Jura Museum located in Willibaldsburg castle in the town of Eichstätt, Germany, is a natural history museum that has an extensive exhibit of Jurassic fossils from the quarries of Solnhofen and surroundings, including marine reptiles, pterosaur ...
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,Meyer, C.E.H. von, 1854, "Mittheilungen an Professor Bronn: Anthracotherium Dalmatinum vom ''Monte Promina'' u.a. A.; Chelydra Decheni aus Braunkohle des ''Siebengebirges''; Wirbelthier-Reste aus dem Basalttuff-Konglomerat zu ''Glimbach'' an der ''Rabenau''; angebliches Vorkommen von Agnotherium antiquum und Hyaena spelaea; fossile Reste im lithographischen Schiefer von ''Nusplingen'' bei ''Spaichingen''; Eryon Schuberti; Litogaster; Pemphix; Pterodactylus longicollum n. sp. in ''Solenhofener'' Schiefer; Acrosaurus Frischmanni von da; Reptilien und Cancer-Arten im ''Kressenberger'' Nummuliten-Gestein", ''Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefaktenkunde'' 1854: 47–58 were lost during World War II. 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
Ludwig may refer to:
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* Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and c ...
. Its destruction motivated Peter Wellnhofer to assign a neotype in 1970.Wellnhofer, P., 1970, "Die Pterodactyloidea (Pterosauria) der Oberjura-Plattenkalke Süddeutschlands", ''Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Wissenschaftlichen Klasse, Abhandlungen'' 141: 1–133
Description
''Ardeadactylus'' is suspected to be aheron
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
–like, long–necked long–legged piscivore. 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 ; the referred specimen from the Jura Museum is more or less 10% larger. ''A. longicollum'' had fewer, fifteen per jaw, and relatively larger teeth than ''P. antiquus'', possibly indicating that it preyed on larger fish than ''Pterodactylus''.
Classification
In 2017, a phylogenetic analysis by Steven Vidovic and David Martill found ''Ardeadactylus'' within the family Aurorazhdarchidae, sister taxon to '' Aurorazhdarcho''. Their cladogram is shown below:
In 2018 however, Nicholas Longrich and colleagues had recovered a different set of relationships for ctenochasmatoid
Ctenochasmatoidea is a group of early pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Their remains are usually found in what were once coastal or lake environments. They generally had long wings, long necks, and highly specialized teeth.
Evolu ...
s. In their analysis, ''Ardeadactylus'' was recovered within the Ctenochasmatidae instead. Their cladogram is shown below.
See also
* Timeline of pterosaur researchReferences
{{Portal bar, Paleontology, Germany Late Jurassic pterosaurs of Europe Fossil taxa described in 2013 Solnhofen fauna Kimmeridgian life Tithonian life Ctenochasmatoids