Ctenochasmatidae

Ctenochasmatidae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. They are characterized by their distinctive teeth, which are thought to have been used for filter-feeding. Ctenochasmatids lived from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous periods.

Ctenochasmatids Temporal range: Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous 152–105 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Ctenochasma elegans specimen from Solnhofen
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Clade:	†Ctenochasmatoidea
Family:	†Ctenochasmatidae Nopsca, 1928[1]
Type species
†Ctenochasma roemeri Meyer, 1852
Subgroups
†Ardeadactylus? †Aurorazhdarcho? †Balaenognathus †Cathayopterus †Cratonopterus[2] †Elanodactylus †Forfexopterus †Gladocephaloideus †Kepodactylus †Liaodactylus †Otogopterus †Petrodactyle[3] †Pterofiltrus †Ctenochasmatinae †Ctenochasma †Pterodaustrini †Beipiaopterus †Eosipterus †Gegepterus †Pterodaustro †Gnathosaurinae †Gnathosaurus †Huanhepterus? †Lusognathus †Plataleorhynchus †Tacuadactylus †Moganopterinae †Feilongus †Moganopterus

Ctenochasmatid skulls demonstrating suspension feeding characteristics

The earliest known ctenochasmatid remains date to the Late Jurassic Kimmeridgian age. Previously, a fossil jaw recovered from the Middle Jurassic Stonesfield Slate formation in the United Kingdom, was considered the oldest known. This specimen supposedly represented a member of the family Ctenochasmatidae,^[4] though further examination suggested it actually belonged to a teleosaurid stem-crocodilian instead of a pterosaur.^[5]

Classification

Below is cladogram following a topology recovered by Brian Andres, using the most recent iteration of his data set (Andres, 2021). Anders found that three subfamilies fall within the Ctenochasmatidae: Ctenochasmatinae, Gnathosaurinae and Moganopterinae, while also including several basal genera.^[6]

Ctenochasmatidae	Ctenochasmatinae "Pterodactylus" micronyx Liaodactylus Ctenochasma Pterodaustrini Pterodaustro Beipiaopterus Gegepterus Kepodactylus Elanodactylus Moganopterinae Feilongus Moganopterus Ardeadactylus Gnathosaurinae Huanhepterus Plataleorhynchus Gnathosaurus

References

1. Nopcsa, F (1928). "The Genera of Reptiles" (PDF). Palaeobiologica. 1 (1): 163–188.
2. Jiang, Shunxing; Song, Junyi; Zhang, Xinjun; Cheng, Xin; Wang, Xiaolin (2023-11-15). "A new pterosaur from the early stage of the Jehol biota in China, with a study on the relative thickness of bone walls". Heliyon. 9 (12). E22370. Bibcode:2023Heliy...922370J. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22370. PMC 10709016. PMID 38076164.
3. Hone, David W.E.; Lauer, René; Lauer, Bruce; Spindler, Frederik (2023-07-14). "Petrodactyle wellnhoferi gen. et sp. nov.: A new and large ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of Germany". Palaeontologia Electronica: 26.2.a25. doi:10.26879/1251.
4. Buffetaut, E. and Jeffrey, P. (2012). "A ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Stonesfield Slate (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) of Oxfordshire, England." Geological Magazine, (advance online publication) doi:10.1017/S0016756811001154
5. Andres, B.; Clark, J.; Xu, X. (2014). "The Earliest Pterodactyloid and the Origin of the Group". Current Biology. 24 (9): 1011–6. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.030. PMID 24768054.
6. Andres, B. (2021) Phylogenetic systematics of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 41:sup1, 203-217. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2020.1801703 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2020.1801703