- Rhamphorhynchoidea
Taxobox
name = Rhamphorhynchoids
fossil_range =Late Triassic –Late Jurassic
image_width = 200px
image_caption = "Rhamphorhynchus".
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo =Pterosaur ia
subordo = Rhamphorhynchoidea*
subordo_authority = Plieninger, 1901
subdivision_ranks = Families
subdivision =Anurognathidae Campylognathoididae Dimorphodontidae Rhamphorhynchidae The Rhamphorhynchoidea forms one of the two suborders of
pterosaur s and represent a grade of primitive members of this group of flyingreptiles . This suborder isparaphyletic in relation to thePterodactyloidea , which arose from within the Ramphorhynchoidea, not from a more distant common ancestor. Because it is not a completely natural grouping, Rhamphorhynchoidea is not used as a formal group in most scientific literature, though some pterosaur scientists continue to use it as an informal grouping in popular works, such as "The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time" by David Unwin, and in some formal studies.cite book |last=Unwin |first=David M. |authorlink=David M. Unwin |title=The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time |year=2006 |publisher=Pi Press |location=New York |isbn=ISBN 0-13-146308-X |pages=246] cite journal |last=Lü |first=Junchang |coauthors=and Qiang Ji |year=2006 |title=Preliminary results of a phylogenetic analysis of the pterosaurs from western Liaoning and surrounding area |journal=Journal of the Paleontological Society of Korea |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=239–261 |url=http://cactus.dixie.edu/jharris/Lu&Ji_ptero_phylogeny.pdf |accessdate=2007-03-10 ] Ramphorhynchoids were the first pterosaurs to have appeared, in the lateTriassic Period. Unlike their descendants the pterodactyloids, most rhamphorhynchoids had teeth and long tails, and most species lacked a bony crest, though several are known to have crests formed from soft tissue likekeratin . They were generally small, and disappeared at the end of theJurassic Period.Classification
Taxonomy
Listing of families and superfamilies within the suborder Rhamphorhynchoidea, after Unwin 2006.
* OrderPterosauria
** Suborder Rhamphorhynchoidea *
*** "Preondactylus "
*** FamilyDimorphodontidae
**** "Dimorphodon "
**** "Peteinosaurus "
*** FamilyAnurognathidae
*** SuperfamilyCampylognathoidea
**** FamilyCampylognathoididae
***** "Austriadactylus "
***** "Eudimorphodon "
***** "Campylognathoides "
*** FamilyRhamphorhynchidae
**** SubfamilyRhamphorhynchinae
***** "Angustinaripterus "
***** "Dorygnathus "
***** "Nesodactylus "
***** "Rhamphocephalus "
***** "Rhamphorhynchus"
**** SubfamilyScaphognathinae
***** "Cacibupteryx "
***** "Harpactognathus "
***** "Pterorhynchus "
***** "Scaphognathus "
***** "Sordes "* Rhamphorhynchoids of uncertain relationships ("
incertae sedis ")
** "Comodactylus "
** "Laopteryx "
** "Odontorhynchus "
** "Parapsicephalus "
** "Rhamphinion "Phylogeny
Cladogram after Unwin (2003). For alternate cladograms, seeList of pterosaur classifications . In phylogenetic taxonomy, "rhamphorhynchoids" consist of all basal (primitive) pterosaurs that do not belong to the cladePterodactyloidea .Pterosauria
-?"Comodactylus "
-?"Laopteryx "
-?"Odontorhynchus "
-?"Rhamphinion "
-?"Preondactylus " `--Macronychoptera
--Dimorphodontidae `--Caelidracones
--Anurognathidae `--Lonchognatha
--Campylognathoididae `--Breviquartossa
--Rhamphorhynchidae
|--Scaphognathinae
`--Rhamphorhynchinae `--Pterodactyloidea References
* Unwin, D. M., (2003). "On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs." In Buffetaut, E. & Mazin, J.-M., eds. "Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs". London: Geological Society of London, Special Publications 217, 2003, pp. 139-190.
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