On Targaryendraco wiedenrothi gen. nov. (Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontoidea, Lanceodontia) and recognition of a new cosmopolitan lineage of Cretaceous toothed pterodactyloids

ABSTRACT

Ornithocheirus wiedenrothi, from the Hauterivian (Early Cretaceous of Germany), is a taxon represented by three-dimensional remains of the lower jaw and wing elements. Its phylogenetic affinities have for long been elusive, though several works had already pointed out that it probably did not belong within the wastebasket genus Ornithocheirus. In the present contribution, we redescribe this species, assigning it to the new genus Targaryendraco and offering updated morphological comparisons. Subsequently, we present a phylogenetic analysis in which we recover a clade formed by Targaryendraco, Aussiedraco, Barbosania, Aetodactylus, Camposipterus and Cimoliopterus. This newly recognised clade is interesting in being quite cosmopolitan and spanning from the Hauterivian to the Cenomanian, like its sister-group, the Anhangueria. The recognition of this clade helps fill the temporal gap between the Anhangueria and Cimoliopterus, and also demonstrates that the diversity of Cretaceous toothed pterosaurs was higher than previously thought.

KEYWORDS:

• Pterosaur phylogeny
• systematics
• taxonomy
• skull morphology
• Targaryendraconia

Acknowledgments

RVP deeply thanks Rainer Schoch (SMNS) for his very kind reception and for granting access to specimens under his care at the SMNS; and CAPES for his grant (#1845438). BH thanks Dale Winkler (SMU) and Michael Day (NHMUK) and Matt Riley (CAMSM) for access to specimens under their care; and CNPq for his grant (#140789/2016-2). We also thank Oliver Rauhut and Alexander Nützel (BSPG), Uiara Cabral, Luciana Carvalho, Orlando Grillo, and Alexander Kellner (MN) for access to specimens under their care; the Willi Hennig Society for making TNT freely available and the Paleobiology Database for making world maps freely available. We thank Felipe Pinheiro, Christopher Bennett and an anonymous reviewer for their thoughtful and constructive comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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Funding

This work was supported by CAPES under grants #1845438 and #140789/2016-2.