Targaryendraconia is an extinct

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, ...

lanceodontian Ornithocheiromorpha (from Ancient Greek, meaning "bird hand form") is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early Cretaceous, Early to Late Cretaceous Period (geology), perio ...

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 ...

that lived from the

Early Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

period in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Classification

Below is a

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

following a topology by Pêgas and colleagues in 2019. In their analysis, they recovered Targaryendraconia as the sister taxon of the clade

Anhangueria Anhangueria (or anhanguerians) is a group of pterosaurs belonging to the clade Pteranodontoidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods (Valanginian to Turonian stages), around 140 to 92.5 million years ...

, both of which are within the more inclusive group

Ornithocheirae Ornithocheirae is an extinct clade of pteranodontoid pterosaurs from the Early Cretaceous to the Late Cretaceous (Valanginian to Turonian stages) of Asia, Europe, North America and South America. It was named by Harry Seeley in 1870 as a family ...

. Targaryendraconia is split into two families: the Targaryendraconidae, which contains ''

Aussiedraco ''Aussiedraco'' is a genus of targaryendraconian pterodactyloid pterosaur from the early Cretaceous of Australia. Description ''Aussiedraco'' is known from holotype QM F10613, a partial mandibular symphysis housed at the Queensland Museum, ...

'', '' Barbosania'', and ''

Targaryendraco ''Targaryendraco'' is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Hauterivian stage) of Hannover, northern Germany. Fossil remains of ''Targaryendraco'' dated back about 132 million years ago. Discovery and naming In Ju ...

'', and the Cimoliopteridae, which contains ''

Aetodactylus ''Aetodactylus'' (meaning "eagle finger") is a genus of targaryendraconian pterosaur. It is known from a lower jaw discovered in Upper Cretaceous rocks of northeastern Texas, United States. Description ''Aetodactylus'' is based on SMU 76 ...

'', ''

Camposipterus ''Camposipterus'' is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of England. Fossil remains of ''Camposipterus'' dated back to the Early Cretaceous, about 112 million years ago. Discovery and naming In 1869, Harry Govier Seel ...

'', and ''

Cimoliopterus ''Cimoliopterus'' is a genus of pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now England and the United States. The first known specimen, consisting of the front part of a snout including part of a crest, was discovered in the G ...

''.

References

Pteranodontoids Hauterivian first appearances {{pterosaur-stub