Pterodactylidae

Pterodactylids Temporal range: Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous, 152–105 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Cast of the sub-adult type specimen of Pterodactylus antiquus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Infraorder:	†Archaeopterodactyloidea
Clade:	†Pterodactylidae Bonaparte, 1838
Subgroups
†Pterodactylus †Ctenochasmatoidea

Pterodactylidae is a controversial group of pterosaurs. During the 2000s and 2010s, several competing definitions for the various Jurassic pterodactyloid groups were proposed. Pereda-Suberbiola et al. (2012) used Fabien Knoll's (2000) definition of the name Pterodactylidae.^[1] Knoll had defined Pterodactylidae as a clade containing "Pterodactylus antiquus, Ctenochasma elegans, their most recent common ancestor and all its descendants".^[2] Using this definition with the analysis conducted by Pereda-Suberbiola et al. (2012) meant that Ctenochasmatoidea was nested inside Pterodactylidae.^[1]

Classification[]

Below is the majority-rule consensus tree found by Pereda-Suberbiola et al. (2012), showing their preferred definitions of Pterodactylidae and Ctenochasmatoidea.^[1]

Other researchers, such as David Unwin, have traditionally defined Pterodactylidae in such a way to ensure it is nested within Ctenochasmatoidea instead. In 2003, Unwin defined the same clade (Pterodactylus + Pterodaustro) with the name Euctenochasmatia. Unwin considered this to be a subgroup within Ctenochasmatoidea, but most analyses since have found Pterodactylus to be more primitive than he thought, making Euctenochasmatia the more inclusive group.^[3]

References[]