Brasileodactylus

Brasileodactylus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 112 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Clade: Ornithocheiriformes
Clade: Ornithocheirae
Clade: Anhangueria
Genus: Brasileodactylus
Kellner, 1984
Type species
Brasileodactylus araripensis
Kellner, 1984

Brasileodactylus a genus of pterosaur from the Aptian-age (Early Cretaceous period) lower Santana formation of Chapada do Araripe, Ceará, Brazil.

The genus was named by paleontologist Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner in 1984. The genus name means 'pterosaur (literally, [wing] "finger") from Brazil'. The type species is Brasileodactylus araripensis. The specific name refers to the Araripe Plateau. The holotype, MN 4804-V, is the front part of a mandible.

Later remains referred to Brasileodactylus include SMNS 55414, a mandible, and MN 4797–V, the front of a snout and mandible. More complete fossils are BSP 1991 I 27, a fragmentary skeleton, and AMNH 24444, a 429 mm (16.9 in) long skull, with mandible and proximal left wing. The last two specimens have been assigned to a Brasileodactylus sp. indet. by André Jacques Veldmeijer. However, some of the more complete specimens may belong to other pterosaurs, such as Barbosania.[1]

  1. ^ Elgin RA, Frey E (2011). "A new ornithocheirid, Barbosania gracilirostris gen. et sp. nov. (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from the Santana Formation (Cretaceous) of NE Brazil". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 130 (2): 259–275. Bibcode:2011SwJP..130..259E. doi:10.1007/s13358-011-0017-4. S2CID 89178816.