Dimorphodontia
| Dimorphodontians Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 195–182 Ma | |
|---|---|
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| Skeletal reconstruction of Dimorphodon macronyx, Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Clade: | †Macronychoptera |
| Clade: | †Dimorphodontia Seeley, 1870 |
| Genera | |
Dimorphodontia is a group of early "rhamphorhynchoid" pterosaurs named after Dimorphodon, that lived in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic.
A family, Dimorphodontidae, was named in 1870 by Harry Govier Seeley (as "Dimorphodontae") with Dimorphodon as the only known member.[1] In 2003 David Unwin defined a clade Dimorphodontidae, as the group consisting of the last common ancestor of Dimorphodon macronyx and Peteinosaurus zambellii, and all its descendants.[2] However, later studies found that Dimorphodon may not be closely related to Peteinosaurus, so this definition of Dimorphodontidae would therefore be superfluous. In 2014, Brian Andres and colleagues defined another clade, Dimorphodontia, as a replacement. Dimorphodontia would include all pterosaurs more closely related to Dimorphodon than to Pterodactylus. According to the analysis published by Andres et al., Dimorphodontia is also a small group, including only Dimorphodon and Parapsicephalus.[3]
References
- ↑ Seeley, H.G. 1870. "Remarks on Prof. Owen's Monograph on Dimorphodon". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 4, 6: 129.
- ↑ Unwin, D. M. 2003. "On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs". In: Buffetaut, E. & Mazin, J.-M. (eds), Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 217: 139-190
- ↑ Andres, B.; Clark, J.; Xu, X. (2014). "The Earliest Pterodactyloid and the Origin of the Group". Current Biology. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.030.