Name:
Istiodactylus
(Sail finger).
Phonetic: Iss-tee-oh-dack-till-us.
Named By: Stafford House, Andrew Millner &
David Martell - 2001.
Synonyms: Ornithodesmus latidens.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Pterosauria,
Pterodactyloidea, Istiodactylidae.
Species: I. latidens (type) I.
sinensis.
Type: Carnivore.
Size: Approximateky 4.5 meter wingspan.
Known locations: Isle of Wight - Vectis Formation.
Time period: Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Several individuals.
Istiodactylus
had actually been known to science since 1913 except it was known as
Ornithodesmus until it was realised that some of the
remains associated
to it belonged to a theropod dinosaur. With this realisation the known
pterosaur
remains were renamed Istiodactylus.
Istiodactylus
had quite a unique beak that was rounded at the end leading some to
refer to it as a 'duck billed' pterosaur. This analogy aside, the teeth
inside the beak laterally compressed, small and fitted close together
towards the front, meaning that Istiodactylus would
have had an easy
time slicing flesh.
Another
specimen is thought to hail from China and is named Istiodactylus
sinesis. However its validity was disputed not long after it
was named
in 2006, and it has since been considered to be a junior synonym of the
pterosaur Nurhachius.
This would make Istiodactylus
known only from the
British Isles.
Further reading
- Pterosaurs. Dinosaurs from the Isle of Wight. - The Palaeontological
Association, London 324-335. - S. C. B. Howse, A. R. Milner &
D. M. Martill - 2001.
- A new species of Istiodactylus (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from
the Lower Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. - Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology 26(1):70-78. - B. Andres & Q. Ji - 2006.
- A functional odontoid in the dentary of the Early Cretaceous
pterosaur Istiodactylus latidens: Implications for feeding. -
Cretaceous Research. 47: 56–65. - D. M. Martill - 2014.