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Ornithocheirus ✝

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Description

Ornithocheirus (from Ancient Greek "ὄρνις", meaning bird, and "χεῖρ", meaning hand) is a pterosaur genus known from fragmentary fossil remains uncovered from sediments in the UK.

From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithocheirus, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	4818486	https://www.gbif.org/species/4818486
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	38500	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=38500

Rank

genus

Taxonomy (GBIF)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Pterosauria : Ornithocheiridae : Ornithocheirus

Taxonomy (PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Pterosauria : Ornithocheirus

Taxonomic Status (GBIF)

accepted

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Triploblastica	Lankester 1877
-	Nephrozoa	Jondelius et al. 2002
-	Deuterostomia	Grobben 1908
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata	Lamarck 1801
superclass	Gnathostomata	Gegenbauer 1874
-	Osteichthyes
-	Sarcopterygii	Romer 1955
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha
-	Tetrapoda
-	Reptiliomorpha	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Anthracosauria	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Batrachosauria
-	Cotylosauria
-	Amniota	Haeckel 1866
-	Sauropsida	Huxley 1864
class	Reptilia	Laurenti 1768
subclass	Eureptilia
-	Romeriida	Gauthier et al. 1988
-	Diapsida
-	Eosuchia
-	Neodiapsida	Benton 1985
-	Sauria	Gauthier 1984
-	Archosauromorpha
-	Crocopoda	Ezcurra 2016
-	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
-	Eucrocopoda	Ezcurra 2016
-	Archosauria
informal	Avemetatarsalia	Benton 1999
-	Ornithodira	Gauthier 1986
-	Pterosauromorpha	Padian 1997
-	Pterosauria
suborder	Pterodactyloidea	Plieninger 1901
-	Lophocratia	Unwin 2003
superfamily	Ornithocheiroidea	Seeley 1870
genus	Ornithocheirus	Seeley 1869

Scientific Name

Ornithocheirus Seeley, 1869

Name Published In

Index Foss. Av. Rept., xvi.

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Ornithosauria	stated without evidence	Seeley, 1869
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Ornithocheiridae	stated with evidence	Zittel, 1890
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Ornithocheiridae	stated without evidence	Van Den Broeck, 1900
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Ornithocheirinae	stated with evidence	Williston, 1903
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Ornithocheiridae	stated without evidence	Delair, 1958
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Ornithocheiridae	stated with evidence	Wellnhofer, 1980
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Ornithocheiridae	implied	Carroll, 1988
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Pteranodontidae	stated with evidence	Bennett, 1989
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Ornithocheiridae	stated with evidence	Wild, 1990
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Pteranodontidae	stated without evidence	Murry et al., 1991
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Pterodactyloidea	stated without evidence	Galton, 1994
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Ornithocheiridae	stated with evidence	Howse and Milner, 1995
Ornithocheirus	genus	belongs to Ornithocheiroidea	stated with evidence	Andres et al., 2014

Status (PBDB)

extinct

Taxon Size (PBDB)

First Recorded Appearance

136 - 130 Ma
Early/Lower Cretaceous

Last Recorded Appearance

99.6 - 89.8 Ma
Late/Upper Cretaceous

Environment

marine (based on Pterosauria)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)

Diet

piscivore (based on Pterosauria)

Taphonomy

phosphatic (based on Vertebrata)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

H. G. Seeley. 1869. Index to the Fossil Remains of Aves, Ornithosauria, and Reptilia, from the Secondary System of Strata, Arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge. Deighton, Bell, and Co, Cambridge

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithocheirus

External Images

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Common Name(s)	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Cimoliornis diomedeus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus brachyrhinus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus carteri species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus crassidens species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus curtus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus dentatus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus denticulatus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus enchorhynchus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus eurygnathus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus hilsensis species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus nobilis species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus oxyrhinus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus polyodon species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus scaphorhynchus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus simus ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		2	105 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous	105 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous
Ornithocheirus tenuirostris species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Ornithocheirus wiedenrothi ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	136 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous	136 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous
Ornithocheirus xyphorhynchus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB

Obsolete Names

Name	Source	Taxon Rank	Taxonomy
Ornithochirus Lydekker, 1888	GBIF	genus	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Pterosauria : Ornithocheiridae : *Ornithochirus*

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1835	Palaeornis Mantell
1846	Cimoliornis Owen
1852	Cimoliornis Gervais p. 265
1869	Ornithocheirus Seeley p. xvi
1874	Criorhynchus Owen
1881	Ornithocheirus Seeley p. 620
1890	Ornithocheirus Zittel p. 797
1900	Ornithocheirus Van Den Broeck p. 106
1903	Ornithocheirus Williston p. 159
1958	Ornithocheirus Delair p. 71
1964	Criorhynchus Young p. 253
1980	Ornithocheirus Wellnhofer
1988	Criorhynchus Carroll

Year	Name and Author
1988	Ornithocheirus Carroll
1989	Ornithocheirus Bennett
1990	Ornithocheirus Wild
1991	Ornithocheirus Murry et al. p. 167
1994	Ornithocheirus Galton p. 265
1995	Ornithocheirus Howse and Milner
2001	Criorhynchus Fastnacht
2001	Ornithocheirus Unwin
2002	Criorhynchus Veldmeijer
2003	Ornithocheirus Unwin p. 145
2013	Ornithocheirus Rodrigues and Kellner
2014	Ornithocheirus Andres et al.

References

Seeley H. G. , Index to the Fossil Remains of Aves, Ornithosauria, and Reptilia, from the Secondary System of Strata, Arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge. Deighton, Bell, and Co, Cambridge, 1-143

Gervais P. , Zoologie et Paléontologie Françaises (Animaux Vertébrés) ou Nouvelles Recherches sur les Animaux Vivants et Fossiles de la France [French Zoology and Paleontology (Vertebrate Animals) or New Research on the Living and Fossil Animals of France] 1–3, 1-274+

Owen R. The fossil Reptilia of the Mesozoic formations. Part 1. Pterosauria, Palaeontographical Society Monographs 27 126, 1-14

Seeley H. G. The reptile fauna of the Gosau Formation preserved in the Geological Museum of the University of Vienna, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 37 148, 620-707

Zittel K. A. v. , Handbuch der Palaeontologie. I. Abteilung Paleozoologie. III. Band. Vertebrata (Pisces, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves) [Handbook of Paleontology. Division I. Paleozoology. Volume III. Vertebrata (Pisces, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves)], xii-900

Van Den Broeck E. Les dépôts à Iguanodons de Bernissart et leur transfert dans l’étage Purbeckien ou Aquilonien du Jurassique supérieur. Exposé comprenant une revue de la faune des vertébrés du Purbeckien et du Wealdien dans le sud-est de l’Angleterre [The Iguanodon deposits of Bernissart and their transfer to the Purbeckian or Aquilonian stage of the Upper Jurassic. Presentation including a review of the vertebrate fauna of the Purbeckian and Wealden of southeast England ], Mémoires de la Société Belge de Géologie de Paléontologie et d’Hydrologie 14, 39-112

Williston S. W. (1903) On the osteology of Nyctosaurus (Nyctodactylus), with notes on American pterosaurs, Field Columbian Museum Publications, Geological Series 2, 125-163

Delair J. B. (1958) The Mesozoic reptiles of Dorset. Part one, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 79, 47-72

Young C.-C. (1964) On a new pterosaurian from Sinkiang, China, Vertebrata PalAsiatica 8 3, 221-255

Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698

Bennett S. C. (1989) A pteranodontid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Peru, with comments on the relationships of Cretaceous pterosaurs, Journal of Paleontology 63 5, 669-677

Wild R. (1990) Ein Flugsaurierrest (Reptilia, Pterosauria) aus der Unterkreide (Hauterive) von Hannover (Niedersachen), Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 181, 241-254

Murry P. A., Winkler D. A., et al (1991) An azhdarchid pterosaur humerus from the Lower Cretaceous Glen Rose Formation of Texas, Journal of Paleontology 65 1, 167-170

Galton P. M. (1994) Notes on Dinosauria and Pterodactylia from the Cretaceous of Portugal, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 194 2/3, 253-267

Howse S. C. B., Milner A. R. (1995) The pterodactyloids from the Purbeck Limestone Formation of Dorset, Bulletin of the Natural History Musuem, London (Geology) 51 1, 73-88

Fastnacht M. (2001) First record of Coloborhynchus (Pterosauria) from the Santana Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Chapada do Araripe, Brazil, Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 75 1, 23-36

Unwin D. M. (2001) An overview of the pterosaur assemblage from the Cambridge Greensand (Cretaceous) of Eastern England, Mitteilungen as dem Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe 4, 189-222

Veldmeijer A. J. (2002) Pterosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil in the Stuttgart collection, Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie) 327, 1-27

Unwin D. M. (2003) On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs, Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs, Geological Society of London, Special Publications 217, 139-190

Rodrigues T., Kellner A. W. A. (2013) Taxonomic review of the Ornithocheirus complex (Pterosauria) from the Cretaceous of England, ZooKeys 308, 1-112 doi:doi: 10.3897/zookeys.308.5559

Andres B., Clark J., et al (2014) The earliest pterodactyloid and the origin of the group, Current Biology 24, 1-6

Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

as per family - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Index Foss. Av. Rept., xvi. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

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