Dorygnathus

Dorygnathus Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 180 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
A cast of UUPM R 156 in Göteborgs Naturhistoriska Museum, a specimen sold by Bernhard Hauff to the University of Uppsala in 1925
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Family:	†Rhamphorhynchidae
Subfamily:	†Rhamphorhynchinae
Genus:	†Dorygnathus Wagner, 1860
Type species
†Ornithocephalus banthensis Theodori, 1830
Species
†D. banthensis (Theodori, 1830)
Synonyms
List Dimorphodon banthensis (Theodori, 1830) Ornithocephalus banthensis Theodori, 1830 Pterodactylus banthensis (Theodori, 1830) Pterodactylus (Ornithocephalus) banthensis (Theodori, 1830) Pterodactylus (Rhamphorhynchus) (ensirostris) banthensis (Theodori, 1830) (nomen oblitum) Rhamphorhynchus banthensis (Theodori, 1830) Rhamphorhynchus (ensirostris) macronyx banthensis (Theodori, 1830) (nomen oblitum) Rhamphorhynchus ensirostris Theodori, 1852 (nomen oblitum) Pterodactylus goldfussi Theodori, 1830 (nomen dubium) Rhamphorhynchus goldfussi (Theodori, 1830) (nomen dubium) Pterodactylus macronyx Meyer, 1831 non Buckland, 1829 (nomen dubium) Rhamphorhynchus macronyx (Meyer, 1831) (nomen dubium) Dorygnathus mistelgauensis Wild, 1971

Dorygnathus ("spear jaw") was a genus of rhamphorhynchid pterosaur that lived in Europe during the Early Jurassic period, when shallow seas flooded much of the continent. It had a short wingspan around 1.5 meters (4.9 feet), and a relatively small triangular sternum, which is where its flight muscles attached. Its skull was long and its eye sockets were the largest opening therein. Large curved fangs that "intermeshed" when the jaws closed featured prominently at the front of the snout while smaller, straighter teeth lined the back.^[1]

Having two or more morphs of teeth, a condition called heterodonty, is rare in modern reptiles but more common in basal ("primitive") pterosaurs. Its heterodont dentition and direct dietary evidence based on gut contents suggest that Dorygnathus is a piscivore (fish-eater). The fifth digit on the hindlimbs of Dorygnathus was unusually long and oriented to the side. Its function is not certain, but the toe may have supported a membrane like those supported by its wing-fingers and pteroids. Dorygnathus was according to David Unwin related to the Late Jurassic pterosaur Rhamphorhynchus and was a contemporary of Campylognathoides in Holzmaden and Ohmden.^[1]