| Pterodactylus Temporal range: Early Tithonian,
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Sub-adult type specimen of P. antiquus, Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Clade: | †Euctenochasmatia |
| Genus: | †Pterodactylus Cuvier, 1809 |
| Type species | |
| †Pterodactylus antiquus Sömmerring, 1812
| |
| Species | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Genus synonymy
Species synonymy
| |
Pterodactylus (from Ancient Greek: πτεροδάκτυλος, romanized: pterodáktylos 'winged finger'[2]) is a genus of extinct pterosaurs. It is thought to contain only a single species, Pterodactylus antiquus, which was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying reptile and one of the first prehistoric reptiles to ever be discovered.
Fossil remains of Pterodactylus have primarily been found in the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, Germany, which dates from the Late Jurassic period (Tithonian stage), about 150.8 to 148.5 million years ago. More fragmentary remains of Pterodactylus have tentatively been identified from elsewhere in Europe and in Africa.[3]
Pterodactylus was a generalist carnivore that probably fed on a variety of invertebrates and vertebrates. Like all pterosaurs, Pterodactylus had wings formed by a skin and muscle membrane stretching from its elongated fourth finger to its hind limbs. It was supported internally by collagen fibres and externally by keratinous ridges. Pterodactylus was a small pterosaur compared to other famous genera such as Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus, and it also lived earlier, during the Late Jurassic period, while both Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus lived during the Late Cretaceous. Pterodactylus lived alongside other small pterosaurs such as the well-known Rhamphorhynchus, as well as other genera such as Scaphognathus, Anurognathus and Ctenochasma. Pterodactylus is classified as an early-branching member of the ctenochasmatid lineage, within the pterosaur clade Pterodactyloidea.[4][5]
- ^ Fischer von Waldheim, Gotthelf (1813). Zoognosia tabulis synopticis illustrata : in usum praelectionum mperalis Medico-Chirurgicae Mosquenis edita. Vol. 1. Mosquae [Moscow]: Typis Nicolai S. Vsevolozsky. p. 466.
- ^ Gudger, E.W. (1944). "The Earliest Winged Fish-Catchers". The Scientific Monthly. 59 (2): 120–129. Bibcode:1944SciMo..59..120G. JSTOR 18398.
- ^ Schweigert, G. (2007). "Ammonite biostratigraphy as a tool for dating Upper Jurassic lithographic limestones from South Germany – first results and open questions" (PDF). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 245 (1): 117–125. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2007/0245-0117.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
unwin2003was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
longrichetal2018was invoked but never defined (see the help page).