''Eudimorphodon'' was a
pterosaur
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 ...
that was discovered in 1973 by Mario Pandolfi in the town of
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, Italy and described the same year by Rocco Zambelli. The nearly complete skeleton was retrieved from
shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
deposited during the Late
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
(mid to late
Norian
The Norian is a division of the Triassic Period. It has the rank of an age (geochronology) or stage (chronostratigraphy). It lasted from ~227 to million years ago. It was preceded by the Carnian and succeeded by the Rhaetian.
Stratigraphic defi ...
stage),
[Wellnhofer, P. (1991). "Summary of Triassic Pterosaurs." ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs.'' London, UK: Salamander Books Limited. p. 67. .] making ''Eudimorphodon'' one of the oldest pterosaurs known.
[Cranfield, I. ''The Illustrated Directory of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures''. London: Salamander Books, Ltd. Pp. 280–281.] It had a wingspan of about and at the end of its long bony tail may have been a diamond-shaped flap like in the later ''
Rhamphorhynchus
''Rhamphorhynchus'' (, from Ancient Greek ''rhamphos'' meaning "beak" and ''rhynchus'' meaning "snout") is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs in the Jurassic period. Less specialized than contemporary, short-tailed pterodactyloid pterosaurs such ...
''. If so, the flap may have helped it steer while maneuvering in the air.
''Eudimorphodon'' is known from several skeletons, including juvenile specimens.
Discovery and species
![Eudimorphodon ranzii Berbenno](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Eudimorphodon_ranzii_Berbenno.JPG)
''Eudimorphodon'' currently includes one species, the
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
''Eudimorphodon ranzii'', which was first described by Zambelli in 1973. It is based on
holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
MCSNB 2888. The
specific name honors Professor
Silvio Ranzi. A second species, ''Eudimorphodon rosenfeldi'', was named by Dalla Vecchia in 1995 for two specimens found in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. However, further study by Dalla Vecchia found that these actually represented a distinct genus, which he named ''
Carniadactylus
''Carniadactylus'' is a genus of pterosaur which existed in Europe during the Late Triassic period (late Carnian or early Norian, about 228 million years agoBarrett, P. M., Butler, R. J., Edwards, N. P., & Milner, A. R. (2008). Pterosaur distribu ...
'' in 2009.
A third species is ''Eudimorphodon cromptonellus'', described by Jenkins and colleagues in 2001.
It is based on a juvenile specimen with a wingspan of just 24 centimeters, MGUH VP 3393, found in the early nineties in
Jameson Land
Jameson Land is a peninsula in eastern Greenland.
Geography
Jameson Land is bounded to the southwest by Scoresby Sound (the world's largest fjord), to the northwest by the Stauning Alps, to the north by Scoresby Land, to the northeast by the Flemi ...
,
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
. Its specific name honors Professor
Alfred Walter Crompton
Alfred Walter "Fuzz" Crompton (born 21 February 1927 in Durban) is a South African paleontologist and zoologist.
Crompton studied at the University of Stellenbosch and obtained a bachelor's degree in 1947 and a masters in 1949, in zoology. He c ...
; the name is a
diminutive
A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
because the exemplar is so small. In 2015 it was named as a separate genus ''
Arcticodactylus
''Arcticodactylus'' is a genus of basal pterosaur living during the Late Triassic in the area of present Greenland. Its only species was previously attributed to ''Eudimorphodon'', and its closest relatives may have been ''Eudimorphodon'' or ''A ...
'' by
Alexander Kellner
Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner (born September 26, 1961) is a Brazilian geologist and paleontologist who is a leading expert in the field of studying pterosaurs. His research has focused mainly on fossil reptiles from the Cretaceous Period, i ...
.
Specimen BSP 1994 I 51, in 2003 referred to a cf ''E. ranzii'', was in 2015 by Kellner made the genus ''
Austriadraco
''Austriadraco'' is a genus of pterosaur living during the Late Triassic in the area of present Austria. Its only species—''Austriadraco dallavecchiai''—was previously attributed to ''Eudimorphodon'', and its closest relatives may have been ' ...
''.
In
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
fossil jaw fragments containing multicusped teeth were found in
Dockum Group
The Dockum is a Late Triassic (approximately late Carnian through Rhaetian, or 223–200 Ma) geologic group found primarily on the Llano Estacado of western Texas and eastern New Mexico with minor exposures in southwestern Kansas, eastern Color ...
rocks in western
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. One fragment, apparently from a lower jaw, contained two teeth, each with five cusps. Another fragment, from an upper jaw, also contained several multi-cusped teeth. These finds are very similar to ''Eudimorphodon'' and may be attributable to this genus, although without better fossil remains it is impossible to be sure.
Many fossils have been found that once were referred to ''Eudimorphodon'', making ''Eudimorphodon'' represent one of the most abundant pterosaurs from Italy.
Today, these have largely been made separate genera.
Description
![Eudimorphodon NT small](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Eudimorphodon_NT_small.jpg)
''Eudimorphodon'' was a small pterosaur, being in length, and weighing no more than . Its fourth finger had a very large size, and attached to the membrane making up the wing.
''Eudimorphodon'' showed a strong
differentiation of the teeth, hence its name, which is derived from
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
for "true dimorphic tooth". It also possessed a large number of these teeth, a total of 110 of them densely packed into a jaw only long. The front of the jaw was filled with fangs, per side four in the upper jaw, two in the lower jaw, that rather abruptly gave way to a line of smaller multipointed teeth, 25 in the upper jaw, 26 in the lower jaw, most of which had five cusps
The morphology of the teeth are suggestive of a piscivorous diet, which has been confirmed by preserved stomach contents containing the remains of fish of the genus ''
Parapholidophorus''. ''Eudimorphodon'' had slightly differing dentition with fewer teeth and may have had a more insectivorous diet.
The top and bottom teeth of ''Eudimorphodon'' came into direct contact with each other when the jaws were closed, especially at the back of the jaw. This degree of ''dental occlusion'' is the strongest known among pterosaurs. The teeth were multi-cusped, and tooth wear shows that ''Eudimorphodon'' was able to crush or chew its food to some degree. Wear along the sides of these teeth suggests that ''Eudimorphodon'' also fed on hard-shelled invertebrates.
[Osi, A. (2010). "Feeding-related characters in basal pterosaurs: implications for jaw mechanism, dental function and diet." ''Lethaia'', ] The teeth distinguish ''Eudimorphodon'', because almost all other pterosaurs either had simple teeth, or lacked them altogether. Benson ''et al.'' (2012) noticed that the teeth would have been perfect for grabbing and crushing fish.
Phylogeny and classification
Despite its great age, ''Eudimorphodon'' has few primitive characteristics
making the taxon of little use in attempting to ascertain where pterosaurs fit in the reptile family tree. Basal traits though, are the retention of pterygoid teeth and the flexibility of the tail, which lacks the very long stiffening vertebral extensions other long-tailed pterosaurs possess. The paucity of early pterosaur remains has ensured that their evolutionary origin continues to be a mystery, with different experts suggesting affinities to
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s,
archosauriformes
Archosauriformes (Greek for 'ruling lizards', and Latin for 'form') is a clade of diapsid reptiles that developed from archosauromorph ancestors some time in the Latest Permian (roughly 252 million years ago). It was defined by Jacques Gauthi ...
, or
prolacertiformes
Protorosauria is an extinct polyphyletic group of archosauromorph reptiles from the latest Middle Permian (Capitanian stage) to the end of the Late Triassic (Rhaetian stage) of Asia, Europe and North America. It was named by the English anatomis ...
.
Within the standard hypothesis that the
Dinosauromorpha
Dinosauromorpha is a clade of avemetatarsalian archosaurs (reptiles closer to birds than to crocodilians) that includes the Dinosauria (dinosaurs) and some of their close relatives. It was originally defined to include dinosauriforms and lager ...
are the pterosaurs' close relatives within an overarching
Ornithodira
Avemetatarsalia (meaning "bird metatarsals") is a clade of diapsid reptiles containing all archosaurs more closely related to birds than to crocodilians. The two most successful groups of avemetatarsalians were the dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Dinos ...
, ''Eudimorphodon'' is also unhelpful in establishing relationships within Pterosauria between early and later forms because then its multicusped teeth should be considered highly derived, compared to the simpler single-cusped teeth of Jurassic pterosaurs, and a strong indicator that ''Eudimorphodon'' is not closely related to the ancestor of later pterosaurs. Instead it is believed to be a member of a specialized off branch from the main "line" of pterosaur evolution, the
Campylognathoididae.
The following phylogenetic analysis follows the topology of Upchurch ''et al.'' (2015).
In 2020 however, a study upheld by Matthew G. Baron about early pterosaur interrelationships found ''Eudimorphodon'' to group with the clade
Novialoidea
Novialoidea (meaning "new wings") is an extinct clade of macronychopteran pterosaurs that lived from the latest Early Jurassic to the latest Late Cretaceous (early Toarcian to late Maastrichtian ageBarrett, P. M., Butler, R. J., Edwards, N. P., & ...
, both within the clade called
Lonchognatha
Novialoidea (meaning "new wings") is an extinct clade of macronychopteran pterosaurs that lived from the latest Early Jurassic to the latest Late Cretaceous (early Toarcian to late Maastrichtian ageBarrett, P. M., Butler, R. J., Edwards, N. P., ...
.
[Matthew G. Baron (2020). "Testing pterosaur ingroup relationships through broader sampling of avemetatarsalian taxa and characters and a range of phylogenetic analysis techniques". PeerJ. 8: e9604. doi:10.7717/peerj.9604. PMC 7512134. .]
See also
*
List of pterosaur genera
This list of pterosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Pterosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered inval ...
*
Timeline of pterosaur research
This timeline of pterosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and taxonomic revisions of pterosaurs, the famed flying reptiles of the Mesozoic era. Although pterosaurs w ...
References
*Dixon, Dougal. "The Complete Book of Dinosaurs." Hermes House, 2006.
*Fantastic Facts About Dinosaurs ()
{{Taxonbar, from=Q132577
Pterosaurs
Fossils of Italy
Late Triassic pterosaurs of Europe
Fossil taxa described in 1973