Raeticodactylus

Taxobox
name = "Raeticodactylus"
fossil_range = Late Triassic


image_width =
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Pterosauria
familia =
genus = "Raeticodactylus"
genus_authority = Stecher, 2008
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "R. filisurensis" Stecher, 2008 (type)

"Raeticodactylus" is a genus of non-pterodactyloid pterosaur from the late Norian-early Rhaetian-age Upper Triassic lower Kössen Formation of the central Austroalpine of Grisons, Switzerland. It is known from a single disarticulated partial skeleton including an almost complete skull. This genus was described in 2008 by Rico Stecher; the type species is "R. filisurensis".cite journal |last=Stecher |first=Rico |year=2008 |title=A new Triassic pterosaur from Switzerland (Central Austroalpine, Grisons), "Raeticodactylus filisurensis" gen. et sp. nov. |journal=Swiss Journal of Geosciences |doi=10.1007/s00015-008-1252-6 |volume=101 |pages=185 Online First]

"Raeticodactylus" had a tall thin bony crest running along the midline of the front of the upper jaw, and a keel on the lower jaw; however, it does not seem to be closely related to "Austriadactylus", the only other crested Triassic pterosaur named by the time "Raeticodactylus" was described. The teeth at the front of the upper jaw, in the premaxillae, were fanglike, whereas the teeth in the upper cheeks (the maxillae) had three, four, or five cusps, similar to those of "Eudimorphodon". "Raeticodactylus" had a wingspan of about 135 centimeters (53 in), and may have been a piscivore, potentially feeding by skimming the water.

References