Unranked clade
Valid Extinct

Caelidracones

Unwin 2003

Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous. Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
9
Group
Ptérosaures
Piscivore Volant Marine
Caelidracones
click to enlarge
Mounted composite cast of Pteranodon longiceps (=P. ingens) at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Photo credit Matt Martyniuk henteeth.com © Matt Martyniuk · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Pterosauria Order
›
Macronychoptera Unranked clade
›
Novialoidea Unranked clade
›
Lonchognatha Unranked clade
›
Monofenestrata Unranked clade
›
Caelidracones Unranked clade
Fossil sites 9 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
6
🇲🇳 Mongolia
1
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
1
🇩🇪 Germany
1
Geological formations
Tiaojishan
4
Bakkar
1
Karabastau
1
Solnhofener Plattenkalk
1
Yixian
1
Jiufotang
1
Temporal distribution
Aptian (121.4–113.2 Ma)
1
Barremian (125.77–121.4 Ma)
1
Tithonian (149.2–143.1 Ma)
1
Oxfordian (161.5–154.8 Ma)
4
Callovian (165.3–161.5 Ma)
1
Aalenian (174.7–170.9 Ma)
1
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
D. M. Unwin. 2003. On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs. Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs, Geological Society of London, Special Publications 217:139-190 DOI ↗
Bibliography (9)
X.-F. Wei, R. V. Pegas, and C.-Z. Shen, Y.-F. Guo, W.-S. Ma, D.-Y. Sun, X.-Y. Zhou. 2021. Sinomacrops bondei, a new anurognathid pterosaur from the Jurassic of China and comments on the group. PeerJ 9:e11161 DOI ↗
J.-C. Lu, Q.-J. Meng, and B.-P. Wang, DLiu, C.-Z. Shen, Y.-G. Zhang. 2017. Short note on a new anurognathid pterosaur with evidence of perching behaviour from Jianchang of Liaoning Province, China. Geological Society of London Special Publications 455:95-104 DOI ↗
S. Jiang, X. Wang, and X. Cheng, F. R. Costa, J. Huang, A. W. A. Kellner. 2015. Short note on an anurognathid pterosaur with a long tail from the Upper Jurassic of China. Historical Biology 27(6):718-722 DOI ↗
J. Lü and D. W. E. Hone. 2012. A new Chinese anurognathid pterosaur and the evolution of pterosaurian tail lengths. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 86(6):1317-1325 DOI ↗
X. Wang, Z. Zhou, and F. Zhang, X. Xu. 2002. A nearly completely articulated rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur with exceptionally well-preserved wing membranes and "hairs" from Inner Mongolia, northeast China. Chinese Science Bulletin 47:226-230 DOI ↗
S. -A. Ji, Q. Ji, and K. Padian. 1999. Biostratigraphy of two new pterosaurs from China. Nature 398:573-574 DOI ↗
N. N. Bakhurina and D. M. Unwin. 1995. a survey of pterosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of the former Soviet Union and Mongolia. Historical Biology 10:197-245 DOI ↗
P. Wellnhofer. 1975. Die Rhamphorhynchoidea (Pterosauria) der Oberjura-Plattenkalke Süddeutschlands, Teil II, Systematische Beschreibung. Palaeontographica Abteilung A 148:132-186
A. N. Riabinin. 1948. Zametka o letayushchem yashchere iz yury Kara-Tau [Note about a flying reptile from the Jurassic of Kara-Tau]. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta Akademiy Nauk SSSR 1:86-93