Anurognathidae
Anurognathids Temporal range: Middle Jurassic – Early Cretaceous,
As early as 189 Ma if "Dimorphodon weintraubi" is an anurognathid. | |
---|---|
Life restoration of Sinomacrops bondei | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | †Pterosauria |
Clade: | †Caelidracones |
Family: | †Anurognathidae Nopcsa, 1928 |
Type species | |
†Anurognathus ammoni Döderlein, 1923 | |
Subgroups | |
|
Anurognathidae is a family of small, short-tailed pterosaurs that lived in Europe, Asia, and possibly North America during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Five genera are known: Anurognathus, from the Late Jurassic of Germany; Jeholopterus, from the Middle to Late Jurassic of China; Dendrorhynchoides, from the Middle Jurassic of China; Batrachognathus, from the Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan; and Vesperopterylus, from the Early Cretaceous of China. Bennett (2007) suggested that the holotype of Mesadactylus, BYU 2024, a synsacrum, belonged to an anurognathid, though this affinity has been questioned by other authors. Mesadactylus is from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of the United States. Indeterminate anurognathid remains have also been reported from the Middle Jurassic Bakhar Svita of Mongolia and the Early Cretaceous of North Korea.