Liaodactylus

Liaodactylus
Temporal range: Oxfordian, 160 Ma
Holotype skull of Liaodactylus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Suborder: Pterodactyloidea
Family: Ctenochasmatidae
Genus: Liaodactylus
Zhou et al., 2017
Type species
Liaodactylus primus
Zhou et al., 2017

Liaodactylus is a genus of filter-feeding ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Jurassic of China. The genus contains one species, L. primus, described by Zhou et al. in 2017. As an adaptation to filter-feeding, Liaodactylus had approximately 150 long, comb-like teeth packed closely together. It is both the earliest known ctenochasmatid and the first filter-feeding pterosaur from the Jurassic Yanliao Biota. Later and more specialized ctenochasmatids differ from Liaodactylus in having longer snouts, smaller openings (or fenestrae) in the skull, and more teeth. Within the Ctenochasmatidae, Liaodactylus was most closely related to the European Ctenochasma.