| Ludodactylus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Fossil skull ofLudodactylus withyucca leaf | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Family: | †Anhangueridae |
| Subfamily: | †Anhanguerinae |
| Genus: | †Ludodactylus Freyet al. 2003 |
| Type species | |
| †Ludodactylus sibbicki Freyet al. 2003 | |
Ludodactylus (meaning "play finger") is agenus ofanhangueridpterodactyloidpterosaur from theEarly Cretaceous period (Aptian stage) of what is now theCrato Formation of theAraripe Basin inCeará,Brazil. Thetype and only species isL. sibbicki. Thegeneric nameLudodactylus refers to the fact that the animal had the combination of teeth and aPteranodon-like head crest, similar to many toy pterosaurs, and no such creature was known to exist until the discovery ofLudodactylus. However,Ludodactylus is not the only pterosaur now known to possess these features, its very close relativeCaulkicephalus is another example.[1]
The genus was named byEberhard Freyet al. in 2003 and contains one knownspecies,Ludodactylus sibbicki. The name is derived fromLatinludus, "play" and Greekdaktylos, "finger".Ludus refers to the fact, long lamented by paleontologists, that many toy pterosaurs combinedteeth with aPteranodon-like head crest, while no such creature was known to exist — however,Ludodactylus shows exactly this combination of features. "Dactylus", in reference to the characteristic long wing finger, has been a common element in the names of pterosaurs, since the first known genus was namedPterodactylus. Thespecific name "sibbicki" is an homage to thepaleoartistJohn Sibbick.[2]
Ludodactylus is based onholotypeSMNK PAL 3828, a skull missing part of the head crest, that was removed from the plate before the fossil was illegally sold. Unlike otherornithocheirids (the group of whichLudodactylus was originally assigned to), it had nopremaxillary crest on the snout, but did have a crest at the back of the skull. Freyet al. interpreted the deep mandible as a crest on the lower jaws. Trapped between therami of the mandible is ayucca leaf; Frey suggested that the animal got it caught in itsbeak and unsuccessfully tried to dislodge it (the edge of the leaf is frayed), and then possibly died fromstarvation or a complication of starving. The skull would have been more than 66 centimeters (26 in) long.[2]
In 2003, Freyet al. classifiedLudodactylus in the familyOrnithocheiridae. In 2007, Frey had reconsidered the validity ofLudodactylus, suggesting that it may represent the same animal asBrasileodactylus, and therefore ajunior synonym. In 2014 however, Brian Andres and colleagues, in a largecladistic analysis of pterosaurs, foundLudodactylus to be slightly more closely related to ornithocheirids andanhanguerids than toBrasileodactylus. In the analysis of Andres and colleagues,Ludodactylus is classified just outside Ornithocheiridae and Anhangueridae as a derived member of the more inclusive groupAnhangueria. Their cladogram is shown on the left.[3] In 2020, a different topology by Borja Holgado and Rodrigo Pêgas recoveredLudodactylus within the family Anhangueridae, more specifically to the subfamily Anhanguerinae, sister taxon to bothCaulkicephalus andGuidraco. This proves that it is indeed very closely related to the anhanguerids. Their cladogram is shown on the right.[4]
Topology 1: Andreset al. (2014).[3] | Topology 2: Holgado & Pêgas (2020).[4]
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