Ornithocheiroidea

Istiodactylus, live reconstruction

• Worldwide

The Ornithocheiroidea are a group of medium-sized to very large short-tailed pterosaurs that occurred throughout the Cretaceous world.

Features

All known Ornithocheiroidea reached wingspans over a meter, most reasonably from wing tip to wing tip three to four meters, the largest, Pteranodon reached a wingspan of six to nine meters. Ornithocheiroidea seem to have been more specialized than any other pterosaur, and much like today's albatrosses and frigate birds on a life as a glider pilot. The shoulder blades were compared to those of other pterosaurs, short and stocky. The conditional that the wings do not ansetzten half height, but were much higher, so that the stability was increased during the gliding. The hind legs were slender and weak. Probably the animals spent little time on the ground.

Inside systematics

The Ornithocheiroidea be divided into four families who may scavenging Istiodactylidae and three living across the seas fish-eating families, of which the first Ornithocheiridae occupied with strong jaw had fangs, while the Pteranodontidae and Nyctosauridae were completely toothless.

The family relationships illustrated by the following cladogram:

Istiodactylidae

Ornithocheiridae

Nyctosauridae

Pteranodontidae

Swell

• David M. Unwin: The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time. PI Press, New York, 2006, ISBN 0 - 13-146308 -X