Genus
Valid Extinct

Anhanguera

Campos and Kellner 1985
Etymology vieux diable

Anhanguera is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Early Cretaceous Romualdo Formation of Brazil and the Late Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of Morocco. This pterosaur is closely related to Ornithocheirus, but belongs in the family Anhangueridae. The generic name comes from the Tupi words añanga, meaning "spirit protector of the animals" + wera "bygone".

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
18
Group
Ptérosaures
Piscivore Volant Marine
Anhanguera
click to enlarge
A photograph of partial specimen American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) 22555, posterior dorsal vertebrae, and the sacrum and pelvis (both iliae, and right ischium and pubis) of Anhanguera sp. (formerly often assigned to Anhanguera santanae),[1] from the Early Cretaceous Romualdo Formation (former Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation) of NE Brazil in dorsal view. © John Conway · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
Anhanguera
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Pterosauria Order
›
Pterodactyloidea Suborder
›
Pteranodontia Unranked clade
›
Ornithocheiroidea Superfamily
›
Anhanguera Genus
Fossil sites 18 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇧🇷 Brazil
10
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
3
🇦🇺 Australia
2
🇨🇴 Colombia
1
🇪🇬 Egypt
1
🇲🇦 Morocco
1
Geological formations
Romualdo
10
West Melbury Marly Chalk
3
Toolebuc
2
Rosa Blanca
1
Bahariya
1
Ifezouane
1
Temporal distribution
Cenomanian (100.5–93.9 Ma)
2
Albian (113.2–100.5 Ma)
5
Aptian (121.4–113.2 Ma)
10
Valanginian (137.05–132.6 Ma)
1
Species (9)
Anhanguera araripensis 120 Ma
Anhanguera blittersdorffi 120 Ma
Anhanguera cuvieri 106 Ma
Anhanguera ligabuei 120 Ma
Anhanguera piscator 120 Ma
Anhanguera robustus 120 Ma
Anhanguera santanae 120 Ma
Ornithocheirus colorhinus subjective synonym of Anhanguera cuvieri 106 Ma
Ornithocheirus denticulatus subjective synonym of Anhanguera cuvieri 106 Ma
Images 24
Bibliography
Original description
D. d. A. Campos and A. W. A. Kellner. 1985. Panorama of the flying reptiles study in Brazil and South America. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 57(4):453-466
Bibliography (13)
E. Cadena, D. A. Atuesta-Ortiz, and J. A. Wilson Mantilla. 2025. New pterosaur fossils from the Early Cretaceous of Colombia. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 151(78):105273 DOI ↗
B. S. Salem. 2023. Geological and Paleontological Studies on New Pterosaur and Crocodyliform Fossils From the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Egypt DOI ↗
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. L. Fletcher and S. W. Salisbury. 2010. New pterosaur fossils from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Queensland, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(6):1747-1759 DOI ↗
A. J. Veldmeijer, M. Signore, and H. J. M. Meijer. 2005. Description of two pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea) mandibles from the Lower Cretaceous Santana Formation, Brazil. Deinsea 11:67-86
M. Fastnacht. 2001. First record of Coloborhynchus (Pterosauria) from the Santana Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Chapada do Araripe, Brazil. Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 75(1):23-36 DOI ↗
A. W. A. Kellner and Y. Tomida. 2000. Description of a new species of Anhangueridae (Pterodactyloidea) with comments on the pterosaur fauna from the Santana Formation (Aptian-Albian), northeastern Brazil. National Science Museum Monograph 17:1-135
F. M. Dalla Vecchia. 1993. Cearadactylus? ligabuei nov. sp., a new early Cretaceous (Aptian) pterosaur from Chapada do Araripe (Northeastern Brazil). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana 32(3):401-409
P. Wellnhofer. 1991. Weitere Pterosaurierfunde aus der Santana-Formation (Apt) der Chapada do Araripe, Brasilien. Palaeontographica Abteilung A 215:43-101
P. Wellnhofer. 1987. New crested pterosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil. Mitteilungen der Bayerischen Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie 27:175-186
D. d. A. Campos and A. W. A. Kellner. 1985. Panorama of the flying reptiles study in Brazil and South America. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 57(4):453-466
P. Wellnhofer. 1985. Neue Pterosaurier aus der Santana-Formation (Apt) der Chapada do Araripe, Brasilien. Palaeontographica Abteilung A 187:105-182
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 ↗