Dsungaripteroidea is a group of
pterosaurs
Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to ...
within the suborder
Pterodactyloidea.
Evolutionary history
The earliest known fossils attributed to this group are from the
Kimmeridgian-age
Upper Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987.
In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...
Argiles d'Octeville
The Argiles d'Octeville (meaning Octeville-sur-Mer, Octeville Clay) is a geological Formation (geology), formation in Normandy, France. It dates back to the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distr ...
Formation of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, dated to around 155 million years ago, and belonging to the species ''
Normannognathus wellnhoferi
''Normannognathus'' is a genus of pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-age Upper Jurassic Argiles d'Octeville Formation of France. Initially, ''Normannognathus'' was classified to the family Germanodactylidae, sister taxon to ''Germanodactylus'', ho ...
''.
[Buffetaut, E., Lepage, J.-J., and Lepage, G. (1998). A new pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian of the Cap de la Hève (Normandy, France). ''Geological Magazine'' 135(5):719–722.]
Classification
The Dsungaripteroidea was defined in 2003 by David Unwin. Unwin made Dsungaripteroidea the most inclusive clade containing both ''Dsungaripterus weii'' and ''Germanodactylus cristatus''.
[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.] Unwin at that time considered those two species to be close relatives. However, more recent studies have shown ''Germanodactylus'' to be much more primitive, either an
archaeopterodactyloid or a primitive member of the
Eupterodactyloidea
Eupterodactyloidea (meaning "true Pterodactyloidea") is an extinct group of pterodactyloid pterosaurs that existed from the latest Late Jurassic to the latest Late Cretaceous periods (Tithonian to Maastrichtian stages). Eupterodactyloids lived on ...
. This makes Dsungaripteroidea a much larger group.
Alexander Kellner in 2003 defined Dsungaripteroidea very differently as the group containing the
last common ancestor of ''
Nyctosaurus'' and ''
Quetzalcoatlus
''Quetzalcoatlus'' is a genus of pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous period of North America (Maastrichtian stage); its members were among the largest known flying animals of all time. ''Quetzalcoatlus'' is a member of the Azhdarchidae, ...
'', and all its descendants. However, subsequent recent analysis use the name
Ornithocheiroidea instead of Dsungaripteroidea for this definition.
[Nicholas R. Longrich; David M. Martill; Brian Andres (2018). "Late Maastrichtian pterosaurs from North Africa and mass extinction of Pterosauria at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary". PLOS Biology. 16 (3): e2001663. . PMC 5849296 Freely accessible. ]
Paleobiology
Dsungaripteroids ''sensu'' Unwin appear to have been largely terrestrial pterosaurs. Not only do they have thick bone walls and generally stouty bodily proportions, they also occur in inland environments, usually away from the coast. Their flight style remains largely untested, but it is speculated that it was dominated by frantic flapping and abrupt landings.
[Witton, Mark (2013). Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton University Press. p. 51. .]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q139213
Pterodactyloids