Family
Valid Extinct

Lonchodectidae

(Hooley 1914)

Lonchodectidae or Lonchodraconidae is a group of pterosaurs within the clade Pterodactyloidea. It has variously been considered to be within Ctenochasmatoidea, Azhdarchoidea and Pteranodontoidea. They are notable for their high, conical tooth sockets and raised alveolar margins.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
2
Group
Ptérosaures
Piscivore Volant Marine
Lonchodectidae
click to enlarge
Pterodactylus compressirostris, holotype NHMUK PV 39410 (Cenomanian / Turonian, Chalk Formation). A–D proposed lectotype, fragment of the mandibular symphysis A left lateral view B respective line drawing C dorsal view D respective line drawing. E–H referred specimen, portion of the rostrum E left lateral view F respective line drawing G ventral view H respective line drawing. Abbreviations: ch – choanae, d – dentary, m – maxillae, naof – nasoantorbital fenestra, pl – palatine, pm – premaxillae, prid – palatal ridge, sul– sulcus. Arrows indicate alveoli or teeth. Scale bar = 10 mm. Photos courtesy of The Natural History Museum. © Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Pterosauria Order
›
Pterodactyloidea Suborder
›
Lophocratia Unranked clade
›
Ctenochasmatoidea Superfamily
›
Lonchodectidae Family
Fossil sites 2 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
1
🇨🇳 China
1
Geological formations
Yixian
1
Temporal distribution
Barremian (125.77–121.4 Ma)
1
Valanginian (137.05–132.6 Ma)
1
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
M. P. Witton, D. M. Martill, and M. Green. 2009. On pterodactyloid diversity in the British Wealden (Lower Cretaceous) and a reappraisal of ‘‘Palaeornis’’ cliftii Mantell, 1844. Cretaceous Research 30:676-686 DOI ↗
Bibliography (2)
J. Lü, S. Ji, and C. Yuan, Y. Gao, Z. Sun, Q. Ji. 2006. New pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning. Papers from the 2005 Heyuan International Dinosaur Symposium. Geological Publishing House, Beijing
R. Owen. 1874. The fossil Reptilia of the Mesozoic formations. Part 1. Pterosauria. Palaeontographical Society Monographs 27(126):1-14 DOI ↗