In Depth
The creation of the Tupandactylus pterosaur genus was born out of the reclassification of the Tapejara species, Tapejara imperator. This was done on the basis that Tapejara imperator displayed several notable differences to the Tapejara type species Tapejara wellnhoferi.
A re-assignment for Tapejara navigans was also attempted for the new genus of Ingridia. However the authors for the new genus of Ingridia not only named Tapejara imperator as the type specimen for the genus, they did so several months after it had already been reclassified under Tupandactylus. For this reason Ingridia is considered a junior synonym of Tupandactylus. Subsequently Tapejara navigans was also included into the Tupandactylus genus in 2011.
Like Tapejara, Tupandactylus is usually depicted as a piscivore that took fish from the ocean. However alternative feeding strategies are sometimes put forward.
Further Reading
– Short note on the first occurrence of Tapejaridae in the Crato Member (Aptian), Santana Formation, Araripe Basin, Northeast Brazil. – Anais da Academia Brasileira Ci�ncias 69 (1): 83–87. – D. A. Campos & A. W. A. Kellner – 1997. – The Crato fossil beds of Brazil: window into an ancient world. – Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-85867-4, ISBN 978-0-521-85867-0. – D. M. Martill, G. Bechly & R. F. Loveridge – 2007. – Short note on the ingroup relationships of the Tapejaridae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea. – Boletim do Museu Nacional 75: 1–14. – A. W. A. Kellner & D. A. Campos – 2007. – New information on Tupandactylus imperator, with comments on the relationships of Tapejaridae (Pterosauria). – Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. – F. L. Pinheiro, D. C. Fortier, C. L. Schultz, J. A. F. G. De Andrade & R. A. M. Bantim – 2011.
