Dsungaripteroidea
Skull of Dsungeripterus weii
- Worldwide
The Dsungaripteroidea are a group of small to large short-tailed pterosaurs that occurred in the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous in the world.
Features
The early, still unspecialized Dsungaripteroidea were small to medium in size and are primarily known Germanodactylus from the Solnhofen limestone and a few other finds from Europe and East Africa.
The later form a monophyletic Dsungaripteroidea, the family Dsungaripteridae. The animals had a beak-like, laterally flattened, pointed, toothless forward and slightly upward curved jaws. The teeth in the middle jaw were pointed to bite strong and suitable hard-shelled prey. Probably fed the animals of mussels or other molluscs, which they found in the rocks of the sea coasts. Skull, vertebrae and limb bones were built unusually strong for the otherwise rather dainty pterosaurs. The eponymous genus of the group, the Chinese Dsungaripterus was the largest agent, reaching a wingspan of three to four meters.
Inside systematics
- Dsungaripteroidea Germanodactylus
- Herbstosaurus
- Kepodactylus
- Normannognathus
- Tendaguripterus
- Dsungaripteridae Domeykodactylus
- Dsungaripterus
- Lonchognathosaurus
- Noripterus
- " Phobetor "
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