Tapejaridae

Taxobox
name = Tapejarids
fossil_range = Early Cretaceous

---

image_caption = Profiles of "Tapejara" and "Tupandactylus" species.
image_width = 200px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Pterosauria
subordo = Pterodactyloidea
superfamilia = Azhdarchoidea
familia = Tapejaridae
familia_authority = Kellner, 1989
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision ="Huaxiapterus"
"Sinopterus"
"Tapejara" (type)
"Thalassodromeus"
"Tupandactylus"
"Tupuxuara"
synonyms =
* Tupuxuaridae Martill, Bechly & Heads, 2007

Tapejaridae (meaning "the old beings") are a family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the early Cretaceous period. Members are currently known from Brazil and China, where the most primitive genera are found, indicating that the family has an Asian origin.Lü, J., Jin, X., Unwin, D.M., Zhao, L., Azuma, Y., and 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.]

Classification

Taxonomy

Tapejaridae may be composed of two subfamilies: a Tapejarinae of "Huaxiapterus" "corrolatus", "Sinopterus", "Tapejara", "Tapejara" "navigans", and "Tupandactylus", and a Thalassodrominae of "Thalassodromeus" and "Tupuxuara".cite journal |last=Kellner |first=A.W.A. |coauthors=and Campos, D.A. |year=2007 |title=Short note on the ingroup relationships of the Tapejaridae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea |journal=Boletim do Museu Nacional |volume=75 |pages=1–14 ] Some studies, such as one by Lü and colleagues in 2008, have found that the thalassodromines are more closely related to the azhdarchids proper than to the tapejarids,Lü, J., Unwin, D.M., Xu, L., and Zhang, X. (2008). "A new azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China and its implications for pterosaur phylogeny and evolution." "Naturwissenschaften",] and have placed them in their own family (which has sometimes been referred to as Tupuxuaridae,Martill, D.M., Bechly, G., and Heads, S.W. (2007). "Appendix: species list for the Crato Formation." In: Martill, D.M., Bechly, G., and Loveridge, R.F. (eds.), 2007. "The Crato Fossil Beds of Brazil: Window into an Ancient World." Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Pp. 582–607.] though Thalassodrominae was named first).

* Family Tapejaridae
** Subfamily Tapejarinae
*** "Huaxiapterus"
*** "Sinopterus"
*** "Tapejara"
*** "Tupandactylus"
** Subfamily Thalassodrominae
*** "Thalassodromeus"
*** "Tupuxuara"

Phylogeny

The exact relationships of tapejarids to one another and to other azhdarchoid pterosaurs has historically been unclear, with different studies producing significantly different cladograms (family trees). It is also unclear exactly which pterosaurs belong to the Tapejaridae; some researchers have found the thalassodromines to be a member of this family, while other studies have found them to be more closely related to the azhdarchids (in the clade Neoazhdarchia).Martill, D.M. and Naish, D. (2006). "Cranial crest development in the azhdarchoid pterosaur "Tupuxuara", with a review of the genus and tapejarid monophyly." "Palaeontology", 49: 925-941.] Some studies have even allowed the possibility that the "tapejarids" as traditionally thought of are paraphyletic, that is, they may not form a natural group but instead represent sequential branches of the tree leading to the more advanced neoazhdarchians. Below are two alternate cladograms presented by Martill and Naish in 2006, the first showing a monophyletic (natural) tapejaridae, the second showing them as a paraphyletic grade.

clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:80%
label1=Azhdarchoidea
1=clade
1=Neoazhdarchia
label2= Tapejaridae
2=clade
1="Tapejara" "navigans"
label2= unnamed
2=clade
1="Sinopterus dongi"
label2= unnamed
2=clade
1="Tupandactylus imperator"
2="Tapejara wellnhoferi" clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:80%
label1=Azhdarchoidea
1=clade
1="Tapejara" "navigans"
label2= unnamed
2=clade
1="Sinopterus dongi"
label2= unnamed
2=clade
1="Tapejara wellnhoferi"
label2= unnamed
2=clade
1="Tupandactylus imperator"
2=Neoazhdarchia

References