List of informally named pterosaurs

This list of informally named pterosaurs is a list of pterosaurs that have not been formally published. This can include unavailable names that have not been published under a valid name. The following types of invalid names are present:

  • Nomen nudum, Latin "naked name": names which have been included in print, yet not properly published according to the standards set by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. The plural form, nomina nudia are not considered valid, and are not italicized as valid names are.
  • Nomen manuscriptum, Latin "manuscript name": A name which has appeared in a manuscript that has not been published, but intends to be. They are equivalent to nomen nudum, except for the method of publication and description.
  • Informal nicknames assigned by the press or researchers.

P

Pricesaurus

Main article: Anhanguera (pterosaur) § "Pricesaurus"

"Pricesaurus megalodon" ("Llewellyn Ivor Price lizard") is a nomen nudum based on remains currently assigned to Anhanguera. The remains were first brought up in a lecture by Rafael Gioia Martins-Neto in 1986. He notes several distinct features, but further research proved that all noted features are non-diagnostic and the taxon was ruled invalid due to improper naming conventions.[1]

R

Rhamphodactylus

"Rhamphodactylus" is a nickname given to fossils of what is likely a basally-branching pterodactyloid from the Mörnsheim Formation by Oliver Rauhut in 2012. The name references the mosaic of features that seem to recall both Rhamphorhynchoidea and Pterodactyloidea. The preserved skull bones are especially similar to Pterodactylus, the tail is similar to rhamphorhynchoids but also Darwinopterus, the shoulder and arm bones are similar to Rhamphorhynchus, and the metacarpal is almost exactly intermediate the two major clades. While the fossil material has been recognized as likely belonging to a new taxon, a proper description has not been published.[2] Some publications have used the nickname "Rhamphodactylus" in reference to this important fossil, even including it in phylogenetic analyses, which have recovered it as a basal pterodactyloid within Monofenestrata.[3][4] A similar fossil, also with mosaic "transitional" features is known from the Painten Formation of Germany.[5]

S

Satsuma-yokuryu

"Satsuma-yokuryu" (薩摩翼竜, "Satsuma (old name of Kagoshima) pterosaur") is a nickname given to fossil of partial limb bone of pterosaur described from Cenomanian Goshoura Group, Shishijima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan.[6] Nearby site also produced fossils of plesiosaur, "Satsuma-utsunomiya-ryu".[7] This specimen was first discovered by Satoshi Utsunomiya during a TV program, he and Yasuhisa Nakajima analyzed material and found to be a part of limb bone.[8][9] Its wingspan would be around 4 meters (13 ft).[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Martins Neto, R.G. (1986). Pricesaurus megalodon nov. gen. nov. sp. (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea), Cretaceo Inferior, Chapada do Araripe (NE-Brasil). Ciência e Cultura 38(7): 756-757 [Portuguese]
  2. ^ Rauhut, Oliver W. M. (January 2012). "Ein "Rhamphodactylus" aus der Mörnsheim-Formation von Mühlheim". Der Bayerischen Staatssammlungfür Paläontologie und Historische GeologieMünchen e.V. (in German). Munich: Dr. Friedrich Pfeil: 69–74. ISBN 978-3-89937-147-5. ISSN 0942-5845.
  3. ^ Wang, X.; Jiang, S.; Zhang, J.; Cheng, X.; Yu, X.; Li, Y.; Wei, G.; Wang, X. (2017). "New evidence from China for the nature of the pterosaur evolutionary transition". Scientific Reports. 7: 42763. Bibcode:2017NatSR...742763W. doi:10.1038/srep42763. PMC 5311862. PMID 28202936.
  4. ^ Martin-Silverstone, Elizabeth; Unwin, David M.; Cuff, Andrew R.; Brown, Emily E.; Allington-Jones, Lu; Barrett, Paul M. (2024-02-05). "A new pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Skye, Scotland and the early diversification of flying reptile". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2298741. ISSN 0272-4634.
  5. ^ Tischlinger, Helmut; Frey, Eberhard (January 2014). "Ein neuer Pterosaurier mit Mosaikmerkmalen basaler und pterodactyloider Pterosauria aus dem Ober-Kimmeridgium von Painten (Oberpfa lz, Deutschland)" [A new pterosaur with mosaic characters of basal and pterodactyloid pterosauria from the Upper Kimmeridgian of Painten (Upper Palatinate, Germany)]. Archaeopteryx (in German). 31: 1–13.
  6. ^ a b 中島保寿; 宇都宮聡 (2022). "鹿児島県長島町獅子島の白亜系御所浦層群から産出した翼竜類化石". 化石研究会会誌 (in Japanese). 54 (2): 60. ISSN 0387-1924.
  7. ^ 宇都宮, 聡 (2019-03-31). 鹿児島県長島町獅子島の上部白亜系御所浦層群から産出した 東アジア最古のエラスモサウルス科（爬虫綱，長頚竜目） (Thesis) (in Japanese). Osaka Museum of Natural History.
  8. ^ Shimbun, Minami-Nippon. "東アジア最古のクビナガリュウ発見地から20メートル 海岸の岩場に棒状の化石が 「こ、これは」研究者の顔色が変わった「翼竜の化石ですよ！」 | 鹿児島のニュース | 南日本新聞". 鹿児島のニュース - 南日本新聞 | 373news.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  9. ^ "鹿児島の海岸に1億年前の翼竜化石 「薩摩翼竜」と命名：朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). 2021-08-26. Retrieved 2024-02-19.