Lonchodectes

Lonchodectes
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 94 Ma
Lectotype jaw fragment (A–D) and assigned rostrum fragment (E–H)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Clade: Ornithocheiromorpha
Family: Lonchodectidae
Hooley, 1914
Genus: Lonchodectes
Hooley, 1914
Type species
Pterodactylus compressirostris
Owen, 1851
Species
  • L. compressirostris
    (Owen, 1851)
Synonyms
Genus synonymy
Species synonymy
  • Pterodactylus compressirostris
    Owen, 1851
  • Ornithocheirus compressirostris
    (Owen, 1851) Seeley, 1870
  • Pterodactylus cuvieri?
    Bowerbank, 1851
  • Ornithocheirus cuvieri?
    (Bowerbank, 1851) Seeley, 1870
  • Coloborhynchus cuvieri?
    (Bowerbank, 1851) Owen, 1874
  • Anhanguera cuvieri?
    (Bowerbank, 1851) Bakhurina & Unwin, 1995
  • Cimoliopterus cuvieri?
    (Bowerbank, 1851) Rodrigues & Kellner, 2013
  • Ornithocheirus brachyrhinus?
    Seeley, 1870
  • Pterodactylus fittoni?
    Owen, 1859
  • Ornithocheirus fittoni?
    (Owen, 1859) Seeley, 1870
  • Anhanguera fittoni?
    (Owen, 1859) Unwin, 2001

Lonchodectes (meaning "lance biter") was a genus of lonchodectid pterosaur from several formations dating to the Turonian (Late Cretaceous) of England, mostly in the area around Kent. The species belonging to it had been assigned to Ornithocheirus until David Unwin's work of the 1990s and 2000s.[1] Several potential species are known; most are based on scrappy remains, and have gone through several other generic assignments. The genus is part of the complex taxonomy issues surrounding Early Cretaceous pterosaurs from Brazil and England, such as Amblydectes, Anhanguera, Coloborhynchus, and Ornithocheirus.[2]

  1. ^ Kellner, A.W.A. (2003). Pterosaur phylogeny and comments on the evolutionary history of the group: In: Buffetaut, E., and Mazin, J.-M. (Eds.). Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs. Geological Society Special Publication 217:105-137. 1-86239-143-2.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Phylogeny was invoked but never defined (see the help page).