Ornithocheiridae

Liaoningopterus, live reconstruction

• Worldwide

The Ornithocheiridae are a family of large, short-tailed pterosaurs, which occurred in the Cretaceous world. They were probably gliding, gliding like today's albatross over the sea and fed on fish.

Features

The Ornithocheiridae all had wingspans over a meter, most reached 3 to 4.5 or even 6 meters ( Coloborhynchus ). In China, in the Jehol Group Ornithocheiriden an egg was found in which there was a probably standing just before hatching embryo, which had a wingspan of 25 centimeters.

In contrast to the related toothless Pteranodontidae the jaws of Ornithocheiridae were provided with teeth, the front were often enlarged. On the front part of the jaw often was a rounded or triangular bone comb, which could serve to improve the streamlined shape of the water plunging muzzle.

System

The Ornithocheiridae together with Istiodactylus and related toothless genus Pteranodon and Nyctosaurus the taxon Ornithocheiroidea, one of the four major lines of evolution of the short-tailed pterosaurs.

Genera

• Anhanguera
• Arthurdactylus
• Boreopterus
• Brasileodactylus
• Coloborhynchus
• Haopterus
• Liaoningopterus
• Liaoxipterus
• Ludodactylus
• Ornithocheirus

Swell

• David M. Unwin: The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time. PI Press, New York, 2006, ISBN 0 - 13-146308 -X
• Peter Wellhofer: pterosaurs. Mosaic, Wittenberg 1980. ISSN 0138-1423