Tupandactylus

Name: Tupandactylus ‭(‬Tupan finger‭)‬.
Phonetic: Too-pan-dak-ty-lus.
Named By: Kellner‭ & ‬Campos.
Synonyms: Ingridia.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Pterosauria,‭ ‬Pterodactyloidea,‭ ‬Tapejaridae,‭ ‬Tapejarinae.
Species: T.‭ ‬imperator‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬navigans.
Type: Usually depicted as a piscivore.
Size: ‭5 meter wingspan.
Known locations: Brazil‭ ‬-‭ ‬Crata Formation.
Time period: Aptian to Albian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: 4‭ ‬almost complete skulls.

       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.

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