This list of informally named pterosaurs is a list of pterosaurs that have never been given formally published scientific names. This list only includes names that were not properly published ("unavailable names") and have not since been published under a valid name (see list of pterosaur genera for valid names). The following types of names are present on this list:
- Nomen nudum, Latin for "naked name": A name that has appeared in print but has not yet been formally published by the standards of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Nomina nuda (the plural form) are invalid, and are therefore not italicized as a proper generic name would be.
- Nomen manuscriptum, Latin for "manuscript name": A name that appears in manuscript but was not formally published. A nomen manuscriptum is equivalent to a nomen nudum for everything except the method of publication, and description.
- Nomen ex dissertationae, Latin for "dissertation name": A name that appears in a dissertation but was not formally published.
- Nicknames or descriptive names given to specimens or taxa by researchers or the press.
I
Imrankhanuqab
"Imrankhanuqab" is an informal genus of pterosaur from the Vitakri Formation of Pakistan, described by M. Sadiq Malkani (2023) in Scientific Research Publishing, a known predatory publisher. The proposed type species is "Imrankhanuqab qaeddiljani" and the proposed holotype GSP/Sangiali-1175 consists of a synsacrum, a pair of ilium, and several bones with cavities.[1]
O
Oolithorhynchus
"Oolithorhynchus" is an informal genus of pterosaur based on numerous humeri referred to Rhamphocephalus from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) Eyford Member of the Fuller's Earth Formation.[2] Because the paper proposing "Oolithorhynchus" was not formally published, this name is a nomen manuscriptum.[3]
P
Parirau
"Parirau" is an informal genus of pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) Maungataniwha Member of the Tahora Formation, New Zealand. The intended type species "Parirau ataroa" is named based on a single left ulna (NZMS CD 467) in a 2019 preprint, which renders this name a nomen nudum.[4] Originally described as an indeterminate pterosaur with possible similarities to Santanadactylus in a 1988 paper,[5] NZMS CD 467 is classified as an indeterminate azhdarchid in formal literature,[6][7] contrary to the 2019 preprint which placed it within Lonchodectidae.[4]
Pricesaurus
"Pricesaurus megalodon" ("Llewellyn Ivor Price lizard") is a nomen nudum based on remains currently assigned to Anhanguera. The remains were first brought up in a lecture by Rafael Gioia Martins-Neto in 1986. He notes several distinct features, but further research proved that all noted features are non-diagnostic and the taxon was ruled invalid due to improper naming conventions.[8]
R
Rhamphodactylus
"Rhamphodactylus" is a nickname given to fossils of what is likely a basally-branching pterodactyloid from the Mörnsheim Formation by Oliver Rauhut in 2012. The name references the mosaic of features that seem to recall both Rhamphorhynchoidea and Pterodactyloidea. The preserved skull bones are especially similar to Pterodactylus, the tail is similar to rhamphorhynchoids but also Darwinopterus, the shoulder and arm bones are similar to Rhamphorhynchus, and the metacarpal is almost exactly intermediate the two major clades. While the fossil material has been recognized as likely belonging to a new taxon, a proper description has not been published.[9] Some publications have used the nickname "Rhamphodactylus" in reference to this important fossil, even including it in phylogenetic analyses, which have recovered it as a basal pterodactyloid within Monofenestrata.[10][11] A similar fossil, also with mosaic "transitional" features is known from the Painten Formation of Germany.[12]
S
Satsuma-yokuryu
"Satsuma-yokuryu" (薩摩翼竜, "Satsuma (old name of Kagoshima) pterosaur") is a nickname given to fossil of partial limb bone of pterosaur described from Cenomanian Goshoura Group, Shishijima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan.[13] Nearby site also produced fossils of plesiosaur, "Satsuma-utsunomiya-ryu".[14] This specimen was first discovered by Satoshi Utsunomiya during a TV program, he and Yasuhisa Nakajima analyzed material and found to be a part of limb bone.[15][16] Its wingspan would be around 4 meters (13 ft).[13]
W
Wyomingopteryx
The name "Wyomingopteryx" appears in a painting of Morrison prehistoric animals by Robert Bakker. However, this binomen is a nomen nudum, and it is possible that Bakker may have intended to coin "Wyomingopteryx" for the Istiodactylus-like specimen TATE 5999 because that specimen is found in Wyoming.[17][18]
See also
References
- ^ Malkani, Muhammad Sadiq (2023). "Geology and Mineral Deposits of Saraikistan (South Punjab, Koh Sulaiman Range) of Pakistan: A Tabular Review of Recently Discovered Biotas from Pakistan and Paleobiogeographic Link: Phylogeny and Hypodigm of Poripuchian Titanosaurs from Indo-Pakistan". Open Journal of Geology. 13 (8): 900–958. Bibcode:2023OJGeo..13..900M. doi:10.4236/ojg.2023.138040.
- ^ Whalley (2000). Pterosaurs of the english Middle Jurassic.
- ^ Hanson, Mike (2005-10-12). "Genus Index". The Pterosauria. Archosauria.org. Archived from the original on 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
- ^ a b Albuquerque, C. (2019). "A Late Cretaceous Lonchodectid?". bioRxiv 10.1101/2019.12.17.879783.
- ^ Wiffen, J.; Molnar, R.E. (1988). "First pterosaur from New Zealand". Alcheringa. 12 (1): 53–59. Bibcode:1988Alch...12...53W. doi:10.1080/03115518808618996.
- ^ Alexander Averianov (2014). "Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria)". ZooKeys (432): 1–107. Bibcode:2014ZooK..432....1A. doi:10.3897/zookeys.432.7913. PMC 4141157. PMID 25152671.
- ^ Pentland, A. H.; Poropat, S. F. (2023). "A review of the Jurassic and Cretaceous Gondwanan pterosaur record". Gondwana Research. 119: 341–383. Bibcode:2023GondR.119..341P. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2023.03.005. S2CID 257685507.
- ^ Martins Neto, R.G. (1986). Pricesaurus megalodon nov. gen. nov. sp. (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea), Cretaceo Inferior, Chapada do Araripe (NE-Brasil). Ciência e Cultura 38(7): 756-757 [Portuguese]
- ^ Rauhut, Oliver W. M. (January 2012). "Ein "Rhamphodactylus" aus der Mörnsheim-Formation von Mühlheim". Der Bayerischen Staatssammlungfür Paläontologie und Historische GeologieMünchen e.V. (in German). Munich: Dr. Friedrich Pfeil: 69–74. ISBN 978-3-89937-147-5. ISSN 0942-5845.
- ^ Wang, X.; Jiang, S.; Zhang, J.; Cheng, X.; Yu, X.; Li, Y.; Wei, G.; Wang, X. (2017). "New evidence from China for the nature of the pterosaur evolutionary transition". Scientific Reports. 7: 42763. Bibcode:2017NatSR...742763W. doi:10.1038/srep42763. PMC 5311862. PMID 28202936.
- ^ Martin-Silverstone, Elizabeth; Unwin, David M.; Cuff, Andrew R.; Brown, Emily E.; Allington-Jones, Lu; Barrett, Paul M. (2024-02-05). "A new pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Skye, Scotland and the early diversification of flying reptile". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 43 (4). doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2298741. ISSN 0272-4634.
- ^ Tischlinger, Helmut; Frey, Eberhard (January 2014). "Ein neuer Pterosaurier mit Mosaikmerkmalen basaler und pterodactyloider Pterosauria aus dem Ober-Kimmeridgium von Painten (Oberpfa lz, Deutschland)" [A new pterosaur with mosaic characters of basal and pterodactyloid pterosauria from the Upper Kimmeridgian of Painten (Upper Palatinate, Germany)]. Archaeopteryx (in German). 31: 1–13.
- ^ a b 中島保寿; 宇都宮聡 (2022). "鹿児島県長島町獅子島の白亜系御所浦層群から産出した翼竜類化石". 化石研究会会誌 (in Japanese). 54 (2): 60. ISSN 0387-1924.
- ^ 宇都宮, 聡 (2019-03-31). 鹿児島県長島町獅子島の上部白亜系御所浦層群から産出した 東アジア最古のエラスモサウルス科(爬虫綱,長頚竜目) (Thesis) (in Japanese). Osaka Museum of Natural History.
- ^ Shimbun, Minami-Nippon. "東アジア最古のクビナガリュウ発見地から20メートル 海岸の岩場に棒状の化石が 「こ、これは」研究者の顔色が変わった「翼竜の化石ですよ!」 | 鹿児島のニュース | 南日本新聞". 鹿児島のニュース - 南日本新聞 | 373news.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "鹿児島の海岸に1億年前の翼竜化石 「薩摩翼竜」と命名:朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). 2021-08-26. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ Bakker, R.T. (1994) Unearthing the Jurassic. In: Science Year 1995. World Book Inc.:Chicago, London, Sydney, Toronto, 76-89. ISBN 0-7166-0595-3.
- ^ Bakker, R.T. (1998). "Dinosaur mid-life crisis: the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition in Wyoming and Colorado". In Lucas, Spencer G.; Kirkland, James I.; Estep, J.W. Lower and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems 14. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. pp. 67–77.