Dsungaripteroidea

Dsungaripteroids Temporal range: Late Jurassic-Late Cretaceous, 155–66 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Restored skeleton of Dsungaripterus weii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Clade:	†Lophocratia
Superfamily:	†Dsungaripteroidea Young, 1964
Type species
†Dsungaripterus weii Young, 1964

Dsungaripteroidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea.

Evolutionary history

The earliest known fossils attributed to this group are from the Kimmeridgian-age Upper Jurassic Argiles d'Octeville Formation of France, dated to around 155 million years ago, and belonging to the species Normannognathus wellnhoferi.^[1]

Classification

The Dsungaripteroidea was defined in 2003 by David Unwin. Unwin made Dsungaripteroidea the most inclusive clade containing both Dsungaripterus weii and Germanodactylus cristatus.^[2] Unwin at that time considered those two species to be close relatives. However, more recent studies have shown Germanodactylus to be much more primitive, either an archaeopterodactyloid or a primitive member of the Eupterodactyloidea. This makes Dsgaripteroidea a much larger group.

References

1. Buffetaut, E., Lepage, J.-J., and Lepage, G. (1998). A new pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian of the Cap de la Hève (Normandy, France). Geological Magazine 135(5):719–722.
2. Unwin, D. M., (2003). "On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs." Pp. 139-190. in Buffetaut, E. & Mazin, J.-M., (eds.) (2003). Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs. Geological Society of London, Special Publications 217, London, 1-347.