| Normannognathus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Clade: | †Monofenestrata |
| Genus: | †Normannognathus Buffetaut, LePage & LePage, 1998 |
| Species: | †N. wellnhoferi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Normannognathus wellnhoferi Buffetaut, LePage & LePage, 1998 | |
Normannognathus is agenus ofpterosaur from theKimmeridgian-ageUpper JurassicArgiles d'Octeville Formation ofFrance. Initially,Normannognathus was classified to the familyGermanodactylidae, sister taxon toGermanodactylus, however, many recent analysis have recoveredNormannognathus in differentphylogenetic positions, and depending on different authors,Normannognathus is either found as a basal member of theDsungaripteroidea, as an indeterminatemonofenestratan, or as the sister taxon ofCycnorhamphus within the familyGallodactylidae.
In 1993, Jean-Jacques Lepage on the Normandy coast at theCap de la Hève, nearEcqueville,Octeville-sur-Mer,Seine-Maritime,Normandy, found a ten centimetres longfossil of a pterosaur in a marine claystone layer.
In 1998,Eric Buffetautet al. named a separate genus for it. Thetype species isNormannognathus wellnhoferi. The genus name is derived fromNormannia, the Medieval Latin name for Normandy, and Greekgnathos, "jaw". Thespecific name honorsPeter Wellnhofer. The genus is based onholotype Musée Géologique Cantonal de Lausanne 59'583, the left front portion of a skull and the associated, but not articulated to it, lower jaws.
The snout is low and pointed, and curves upward. Only the part in front of the nostrils has remained. On the back top of this part a very tall bony crest is present. It abruptly juts out from thepremaxillae, formed like a crested wave, having aconcave leading margin. After its rounded tip it gradually curves downwards again towards the skull top; its further shape is unknown because at this point the fossil ends. The crest is flat, running down the midline of the upper jaw and shows a fibrous texture that could be indicative of some covering, such as a horn sheath.
The teeth are robust, and not very elongated. They continue to be present until the very tip of the jaws. Thetooth count is five perpremaxilla; the number is at least nine for themaxilla, and at least fourteen perdentary: no reliable estimates can be given of the last two totals because the back of the head has been lost.
The describers assignedNormannognathus to theGermanodactylidae because it was most similar toGermanodactylus, with the exception that it resemblesDsungaripterus in having an abrupt beginning to a crest larger than that inGermanodactylus and possessing an upward pointing snout.[1]David Unwin in 2006 considered it a basal member of theDsungaripteroidea. In 2015 however, Wittonet al. concluded that it is an indeterminatemonofenestratan, noting that it shares some characters withctenochasmatoids, yet shares other characters with non-pterodactyloid monofenestratans.[2] In 2018 however, Longrichet al. foundNormannognathus to be the sister taxon ofCycnorhamphus within the familyGallodactylidae, which in turn was within the Ctenochasmatoidea. Their cladogram is shown below.[3]
