Cearadactylus atrox

This aberrant member of the Ctenochasmatid pterosaurs had very sharp and long front teeth probably used to catch fish. It is known from a single incomplete skull missing the back portion, from the early Cretaceous of Brazil. A second species, C. ligabuei has been described in 1993 by Dalla Vecchia from the same Santana Formation, but further study by Unwin (2002) found it had nothing to do with Cearadactylus and placed it among the ornithocheirids (genus Anhanguera).

Name

Cearadactylus atrox

Authority

Leonardi & Borgomanero, 1985

Meaning of generic name

Ceará finger.

[When a name ends in "finger" / "dactylus" it usually is short for "wing finger" = "pterodactylus"]

Size

Skull length: 57 cm, Wingspan: ? 4-5 m

Remains

Single incomplete skull and lower jaw.

Age and Distribution

Santana Formation, Araripe Group (Early Cretaceous, Albian), Araripe plateau, Ceará, Northeastern Brazil.

Classification

Pterosauria Pterodactyloidea Ctenochasmatoidea Ctenochasmatidae Gnatosaurinae

Further Reading

Leonardi, G., and Borgomanero, G., 1985, Cearadactylus atrox nov. gen., nov. sp.: Novo Pterosauria (Pterodactyloidea) Da Chapada do Araripe, Ceara, Brasil: Brasil, D.N.P.M., Coletanea de Trabalhos Paleontologicos. Serie "Geologia", Brasilia, 27 (Secao de Paleontologia e Estratigragia, 2), p. 75-80.

Unwin, D. M. 2002, On the systematic relationships of Cearadactylus atrox, an enigmatic Early Cretaceous pterosaur from the Santana Formation of Brazil. Mitteilungen Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Geowissenschaftlichen Reihe, 5, 239-263.