| Pteranodontians | |
|---|---|
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| Skull specimen (AMNH 7515) of thepteranodontidPteranodon longiceps | |
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| Skull cast of thenyctosauridNyctosaurus gracilis | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Clade: | †Pteranodontoidea |
| Clade: | †Pteranodontia Marsh, 1887 |
| Subgroups | |
| Synonyms | |
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Pteranodontia is an extinct group ofornithocheiroidpterodactyloidpterosaurs. It lived during theLate Cretaceous (Turonian toMaastrichtian stages) ofNorth America,South America,Europe andAfrica.[1] They were some of the most advanced pterosaurs, and possessed highly specialized cranial crests that may have served assexual attraction, with males having a much larger crest.
Pteranodontia was originally named by Marsh in 1876. In 2003, it was given aphylogenetic definition by David Unwin as the common ancestor ofPteranodon andNyctosaurus plus all its descendants. Though Marsh had originally named this group based on the shared absence of teeth in those species, most analyses show that all of the traditional "ornithocheiroid" pterosaurs are also members of this clade.
Below is acladogram showing the phylogenetic placement of this group from Andres and Myers (2013).[2]
| Pteranodontia | |
In 2018, Longrich, Martill, and Andres revisited the classification and proposed a different hypothesis based on a new phylogenetic analysis. Following Marsh's original classification, they restricted Pteranodontia to the familiesPteranodontidae andNyctosauridae. They also replaced Pteranodontia withPteranodontoidea as the more inclusive group.[1]
| Ornithocheiroidea |
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In 2022, Fernandeset al. describedEpapatelo as a new pteranodontian from Angola. IncludingEpapatelo in the phylogenetic analysis of Longrichet al. (2018), they recovered a new clade, Aponyctosauria, composed of the Nyctosauridae,Alcione,Simurghia, andEpapatelo.[3]
| Pteranodontia |
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Similar to other pterosaurs, pteranodontian are considered to have been skilled fliers as well as adept at moving on the ground. Evidence from footprints shows that most pterosaurs did not sprawl their limbs to a large degree, as in modern reptiles, but rather held the limbs relatively erect when walking, likedinosaurs. Footprints of pteranodontians are still unknown, but it is likely that they also walked erect.[4] Among pterosaurs, pteranodontians had unusually uneven limb proportions, with the forelimbs much larger and longer than the hind limbs. This would likely have required them to use unique modes of locomotion when on the ground compared to other pterosaurs. Most pteranodontians likePteranodon flew like modern day albatrosses, which consists of flying very long distances and rarely flapping,[5][6] though they were thermal soarers like continental flyers rather than dynamic soarers like most seabirds.[7]
