| Serradraco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Holotype jaw fragment in multiple views | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Clade: | †Pteranodontoidea |
| Clade: | †Ornithocheiromorpha |
| Genus: | †Serradraco Rigalet al.,2018 |
| Type species | |
| †Pterodactylus sagittirostris Owen, 1874 | |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Serradraco is agenus ofEarly Cretaceouspterodactyloidpterosaur from theValanginian agedTunbridge Wells Sand Formation inEngland. Named by Rigalet al. in 2018 with the description of a second specimen, it contains a single species,S. sagittirostris, which was formerly considered a species ofLonchodectes,L. sagittirostris.[1] Although it has been interpreted as a probablelonchodectid,[1] a subsequent study suggested it did not belong inLonchodectidae.[2]
In 1874,Richard Owen named a pair of lower jaws from the collection ofSamuel Husband Beckles, found atSt Leonards-on-Sea inSussex, as a new species ofPterodactylus:Pterodactylus sagittirostris. Thespecific name means "arrowhead-snouted" inLatin, referring to the mandible profile in upper view.[3] In 1888,Edwin Tulley Newton, conforming to the soon to be published pterosaur systematics byRichard Lydekker, renamed the species intoOrnithocheirus sagittirostris.[4] In July 1891, the British Museum (Natural History), the presentNatural History Museum, bought the piece from the heirs of Beckles.
In 1914,Reginald Walter Hooley renamed the species intoLonchodectes sagittirostris.[5] In 1919 however,Gustav von Arthaber again considered it anOrnithocheirus sagittirostris,[6] which was confirmed byPeter Wellnhofer in 1978.[7] In 2001,David Unwin returned to theLonchodectes sagittirostris designation.[8] In 2013,Taissa Rodrigues andAlexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner concluded thatLonchodectes sagittirostris lacked any distinguishing traits and was therefore anomen dubium.
In 2017, Stanislas Rigal, David Martill and Steven Sweetman disagreed with this and named a separate genusSerradraco, resulting in thenew combinationSerradraco sagittirostris. Thetype species of the genus is the originalPterodactylus sagittirostris. The generic name is a combination of the Latinserra, "saw" anddraco, "dragon", referring to the saw-like upper profile of the lower jaws.[1] They also reported a second specimen,BEXHM 2015.18, consisting of a small fragment of jaw with three teeth; six complete caudal vertebrae fused together and two fragmentary caudal vertebrae in articulation; a distal left ulna; a right proximal syncarpal; portions of a minimum of three phalanges and two indeterminate elements.[1] This second specimen was originally referred to cf.Lonchodraco, but a later paper pointed out that it displays no significant differences from the holotype.[2]
Patterns on the microwear ofSerradraco's teeth resemble those of modernpiscovorous reptiles, indicating thatSerradraco preyed upon fish.[9]
