Genus
Valid Extinct

Ornithocheirus

Seeley 1869
Etymology Aux bras d'oiseau

Ornithocheirus is a pterosaur genus known from fragmentary fossil remains uncovered from sediments in the United Kingdom and possibly Morocco.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
12
Group
Ptérosaures
Piscivore Volant Marine
Ornithocheirus
click to enlarge
Ornithocheirus simus. A–D holotype CAMSM B54428 (Albian, Cambridge Greensand), anterior part of the rostrum A left lateral view B respective line drawing C ventral view D respective line drawing E–H referred specimen CAMSM B54552 (Albian, Cambridge Greensand), anterior part of the rostrum E anterior view F respective line drawing G left lateral view H respective line drawing. Abbreviations: m – maxillae, pm – premaxillae. Arrows and numbers indicate alveoli or teeth and their respective position. Scale bar = 10 mm. © Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Pterosauria Order
›
Pterodactyloidea Suborder
›
Pteranodontia Unranked clade
›
Ornithocheiroidea Superfamily
›
Ornithocheirus Genus
Fossil sites 12 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
5
🇫🇷 France
2
🇩🇪 Germany
1
🇵🇹 Portugal
1
🇨🇩 DR Congo
1
🇷🇺 Russia
1
🇲🇦 Morocco
1
Geological formations
West Melbury Marly Chalk
3
Calcaires à Spatangues
1
Zig Zag Chalk
1
Ifezouane
1
Temporal distribution
Cenomanian (100.5–93.9 Ma)
4
Albian (113.2–100.5 Ma)
4
Barremian (125.77–121.4 Ma)
2
Hauterivian (132.6–125.77 Ma)
2
Species (3)
Ornithocheirus platyrhinus subjective synonym of Ornithocheirus simus 106 Ma
Ornithocheirus simus 106 Ma
Ornithocheirus wiedenrothi 133 Ma
Synonyms (3)
Cimoliornis subjective synonym of Ornithocheirus
Criorhynchus objective synonym of Ornithocheirus
Palaeornis subjective synonym of Ornithocheirus
Images 2
Bibliography
Original description
H. G. Seeley. 1869. Index to the Fossil Remains of Aves, Ornithosauria, and Reptilia, from the Secondary System of Strata, Arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge. Deighton, Bell, and Co, Cambridge DOI ↗
Bibliography (12)
M. L. Jacobs, D. M. Martill, and D. M. Unwin, N. Ibrahim, S. Zouhri, N. R. Longrich. 2020. New toothed pterosaurs (Pterosauria: Ornithocheiridae) from the middle Cretaceous Kem Kem beds of Morocco and implications for pterosaur palaeobiogeography and diversity. Cretaceous Research 110:104413 DOI ↗
T. Rodrigues and A. W. A. Kellner. 2013. Taxonomic review of the Ornithocheirus complex (Pterosauria) from the Cretaceous of England. ZooKeys 308:1-112 DOI ↗
D. M. Unwin. 2001. An overview of the pterosaur assemblage from the Cambridge Greensand (Cretaceous) of Eastern England. Mitteilungen as dem Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe 4:189-222 DOI ↗
M. W. Caldwell and J. A. Cooper. 1999. Redescription, palaeobiogeography and palaeoecology of Coniasaurus crassidens Owen, 1850 (Squamata) from the Lower Chalk (Cretaceous; Cenomanian) of SE England. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society of London 127:423-452 DOI ↗
P. M. Galton. 1994. Notes on Dinosauria and Pterodactylia from the Cretaceous of Portugal. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 194(2/3):253-267 DOI ↗
R. Wild. 1990. Ein Flugsaurierrest (Reptilia, Pterosauria) aus der Unterkreide (Hauterive) von Hannover (Niedersachen). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 181:241-254
E. Buffetaut, B. Dubus, and J.-M. Mazin. 1989. Une vertèbre de Ptérosaure (Reptilia: Archosauria) dans l'Albien de l'Aube (France). Bulletin annuel de la Association Geologique Auboise 11 & 12:3-8
E. Buffetaut and P. Wellnhofer. 1983. Un reste de Ptérosaurien dans l'Hauterivien (Crétacé inférieur) de la Haute-Marne. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 25(1):111-115 DOI ↗
L. Cahen. 1954. Géologie du Congo Belge. H. Vaillant-Carmanne, Liège DOI ↗
R. Lydekker. 1888. Catalogue of the Fossil Reptilia and Amphibia in the British Museum (Natural History). Part I. Containing the Orders Ornithosauria, Crocodilia, Dinosauria, Squamata, Rhynchocephalia, and Proterosauria. British Museum (Natural History), London DOI ↗
H. G. Seeley. 1870. The Ornithosauria: an elementary study of the bones of pterodactyles, made from fossil remains found in the Cambridge Upper Greensand, and arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge, Deighton, Bell & Co, Cambridge DOI ↗
R. Owen. 1861. Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Cretaceous formations. Supplement no. III. Pterosauria (Pterodactylus) and Sauropterygia (Polyptychodon). Palaeontographical Society Monographs