Tapejaridae

Tapejaridae
Temporal range: Early to Late Cretaceous, 125–85 Ma
Collection of various tapejarid skulls to scale with one another. From left to right, top to bottom:

Torukjara bandeirae, Caiuajara dobruskii, Tupandactylus imperator, Tapejara wellnhoferi, Huaxiadraco corollatus, and Sinopterus dongi

Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Clade: Tapejaromorpha
Family: Tapejaridae
Kellner, 1989
Type species
Tapejara wellnhoferi
Kellner, 1989
Genera
Synonyms
  • Eutapejaria?
    (Pêgas et al., 2023)

Tapejaridae (from a Tupi word meaning "the lord of the ways") are a family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period. Members are currently known from Brazil, England, Hungary, Morocco,[3] Spain,[4] the United States,[5] and China. The most primitive genera were found in China, indicating that the family has an Asian origin.[6]

  1. ^ David M. Martill; Mick Green; Roy Smith; Megan Jacobs; John Winch (2020). "First tapejarid pterosaur from the Wessex Formation (Wealden Group: Lower Cretaceous, Barremian) of the United Kingdom". Cretaceous Research. 113: Article 104487. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104487. S2CID 219099220.
  2. ^ Pêgas, Rodrigo V. (2024-06-10). "A taxonomic note on the tapejarid pterosaurs from the Pterosaur Graveyard site (Caiuá Group, ?Early Cretaceous of Southern Brazil): evidence for the presence of two species". Historical Biology: 1–22. doi:10.1080/08912963.2024.2355664. ISSN 0891-2963.
  3. ^ Peter Wellnhofer, Eric Buffetaut (1999). "Pterosaur remains from the Cretaceous of Morocco". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 73 (1–2): 133–142. doi:10.1007/BF02987987. S2CID 129032233.
  4. ^ Vullo, R.; Marugán-Lobón, J. S.; Kellner, A. W. A.; Buscalioni, A. D.; Gomez, B.; De La Fuente, M.; Moratalla, J. J. (2012). Claessens, Leon (ed.). "A New Crested Pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Spain: The First European Tapejarid (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea)". PLOS ONE. 7 (7): e38900. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...738900V. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038900. PMC 3389002. PMID 22802931.
  5. ^ Mull, Olivia K.; Bennett, S. Christopher (2023-07-31). "Tapejarine pterosaur from the late Albian Paw Paw Formation of Texas, USA, with extensive feeding traces of multiple scavengers". Historical Biology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2241044.
  6. ^ Lü, J.; Jin, X.; Unwin, D.M.; Zhao, L.; Azuma, Y.; Ji, Q. (2006). "A new species of Huaxiapterus (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China with comments on the systematics of tapejarid pterosaurs". Acta Geologica Sinica. 80 (3): 315–326. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2006.tb00251.x. S2CID 129851866.