Azhdarchoidea

Azhdarchoids
Temporal range:
Early - Late Cretaceous, 143–66 Ma Possible Late Jurassic record[1]
Reconstructed skeleton of Quetzalcoatlus northropi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Clade: Ornithocheiroidea
Clade: Azhdarchoidea
Nesov, 1984
Subgroups

Azhdarchoidea (or azhdarchoids) is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea, more specifically within the group Ornithocheiroidea. Pterosaurs belonging to this group lived throughout the Early and Late Cretaceous periods, with one tentative member, Tendaguripterus, that lived in the Late Jurassic period. The largest azhdarchoids include members of the family Azhdarchidae, examples of these are Quetzalcoatlus, Hatzegopteryx, and Arambourgiania. The Azhdarchoidea has been recovered as either closely related to the Ctenochasmatoidea, as the sister taxon of the Pteranodontoidea within the Ornithocheiroidea, or within the Tapejaroidea, which in turn was also within the Ornithocheiroidea.

  1. ^ Unwin, David M.; Heinrich, Wolf-Dieter (1999). "On a pterosaur jaw from the Upper Jurassic of Tendaguru (Tanzania)". Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe. 2: 121–134.
  2. ^ Rosenbach, K. L.; Goodvin, D. M.; Albshysh, M. G.; Azzam, H. A.; Smadi, A. A.; Mustafa, H. A.; Zalmout, I. S. A.; Wilson Mantilla, J. A. (2024). "New pterosaur remains from the Late Cretaceous of Afro-Arabia provide insight into flight capacity of large pterosaurs". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e2385068. doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2385068.