Name:
Cearadactylus
(Ceara finger).
Phonetic: See-ah-rah-dak-till-us.
Named By: Giuseppe Leonardi & Guido
Borgomanero - 1985.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Pterosauria,
Pterodactyloidea, Ornithocheiridae.
Species: C. atrox (type).
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Estimated between 4 and 5.5 meter wingspan.
Skull is 57 centimetres long.
Known locations: Brazil - Santana Formation.
Time period: Albian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Single skull.
The
holotype specimen of Cearadactylus was not dug out
of the ground by a dedicated research
team, but was instead purchased from fossil dealers in Italy in 1983.
Unfortunately these fossil dealers made several mistakes in rebuilding
the fossil, including mistaking the front of the lower jaw for the
snout and setting it upside down and enlarging the teeth.
When
the skull was reconstructed properly by the National Museum of Brazil,
the teeth were found to have formed a smaller 'rosette' for prey
capture than the previous reconstruction. Also the presence of a crest
on the snout was also clearly established leading to Cearadactylus
being placed with the ornithocheiridae.
Because
only the skull is known, the wingspan for Cearadactylus
has had to be
estimated by proportional comparison to other more complete pterosaurs
of the group. However the methods of comparison can vary as well as
being interpreted differently by different researchers.
A
second skull was once attributed to Cearadactylus
under the species
name Cearadactylus ligabuei, but again fossil
traders incorrectly
reconstructed the material. Because the skull is composed of two main
parts, many have questioned it the parts are actually from the same
species. Subsequent study of this skull has seen it assigned to
Anhanguera
and Coloborhynchus
by different researchers.
Further reading
- Cearadactylus atrox nov. gen., nov. sp.: novo
Pterosauria
(Pterodactyloidea) da Chapada do Araripe, Cear�, Brasil. - Colet�nea de
Trabalhos Paleontol�gicos, S�rie Geologia, Brasilia 75-80. - G.
Leonardi & G. Borgomanero - 1985.
- On the systematic relationships of Cearadactylus atrox,
an enigmatic
Early Cretaceous pterosaur from the Santana Formation of Brazil. -
Mitteilungen Museum f�r Naturkunde Berlin, Geowissenschaftlichen Reihe.
5: 1239–263. - D. M. Unwin - 2002.
- Short Note on the Phylogenetic Position of Cearadactylus
Atrox, and
Comments Regarding Its Relationships to Other Pterosaurs. - Acta
Geoscientica Sinica 31 Supp.1: 73-75. - Bruno C. Vila Nova, Alexander
W.A. Kellner & Juliana M. Say�o - 2010.