Germanodactylidae is a controversial 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. It was first named by Yang Zhongjian in 1964, and given a formal phylogenetic definition in 2014 by Brian Andres, James Clark, and Xu Xing. They defined it as the least inclusive

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

containing ''

Germanodactylus cristatus ''Germanodactylus'' ("German finger") is a genus of germanodactylid pterodactyloid pterosaur from Upper Jurassic-age rocks of Germany, including the Solnhofen Limestone. Its specimens were long thought to pertain to ''Pterodactylus''. The head ...

'' and '' Normannognathus wellnhoferi'', which they considered to be close relatives at the time. However, more recent studies by the same researchers have found that these pterosaurs may be only distantly related. Studies performed in the 2000s suggested this group it contained three genera: '' Germanodactylus'', ''

Normannognathus ''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 ...

'' and ''

Tendaguripterus ''Tendaguripterus'' was a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian to Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Middle Saurian Beds (Tendaguru Formation) of Tendaguru, Lindi Region, Tanzania. Discovery and naming During the German paleontolog ...

''. Various studies have since placed these pterosaurs within the larger clades Archaeopterodactyloidea, Eupterodactyloidea, or

Dsungaripteroidea Dsungaripteroidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Evolutionary history The earliest known fossils attributed to this group are from the Kimmeridgian-age Upper Jurassic Argiles d'Octeville Formation of France, dat ...

, though it has also been recovered within the Ctenochasmatoidea. In several 2010s studies, the supposed "germanodactylid" species were not necessarily found to form a natural group with each other, and even the genus '' Germanodactylus'' itself was discovered to be likely

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

, causing one of its component species to be renamed '' Altmuehlopterus''. This would render the name Germanodactylidae synonymous with some other clade, such as Archaeopterodactyloidea or

Lophocratia Pterodactyloidea (derived from the Greek words ''πτερόν'' (''pterón'', for usual ''ptéryx'') "wing", and ''δάκτυλος'' (''dáktylos'') "finger" meaning "winged finger", "wing-finger" or "finger-wing") is one of the two traditional ...

. Korean Late Cretaceous pterosaur tracks have been interpreted as belonging to a ''Germanodactylus''-like taxon.

Classification

Below is a cladogram showing the results of a phylogenetic analysis presented by Longrich, Martill, and Andres, 2018.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q517744 Pterodactyloids Prehistoric reptile families