Mesadactylus

Name: Mesadactylus (Mesa finger).
Phonetic: Me-sah-dak-tyl-us.
Named By: James Jensen & Kevin Padian - 1989.
Classification: Choradata, Reptilia, Pterosauria, Anurognathidae.
Species: M. ornithosphyos (type).
Type: Uncertain due to incomplete fossil material.
Size: Uncertain due to incomplete fossil material.
Known locations: USA, Colorado - Morrison Formation.
Time period: Kimmeridgian to Tithonian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Fragmentary partial remains.

       Mesadactylus was identified from a synsacrum, the area where the spinal column meets the hind quarters. Since then more fossil material has been referred to Mesadactylus, and despite minor differences, the suggestion has been made that Mesadactylus may possibly be the same species as Kepodactylus.

Further reading
- Small pterosaurs and dinosaurs from the Uncompahgre fauna (Brushy Basin Member, Morrison Formation; ?Tithonian), Late Jurassic, western Colorado. - Journal of Paleontology 63(3):364-373. - J. A. Jensen & K. Padian - 1989.
- New material of Mesadactylus ornithosphyos, a primitive pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Colorado. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24(4):850-856. - D. K. Smith, R. K. Sanders & K. L. Stadtman - 2004.

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