Ludodactylus sibbicki

The specific name of this large pterosaur honors famous paleoartist John Sibbick. Ludodactylus was a crested ornithocheirid from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil, known from a single nearly complete skull missing the distal end of the crest. It was preserved with a leaf between its mandibles thus its nickname, the "tree-biter" and on the same slab that contain the fossils of the fish Dastilbe. The generic name refered to the fact that the animal resembles the inacurrate popular depiction of toy Pteranodon with teeth (Pteranodon was crested but toothless). It may turn out that Ludactylus is the same animal than Brasileodactylus.

Name

Ludodactylus sibbicki

Authority

Frey, Martill & Buchy, 2003

Meaning of generic name

Toy Finger

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

Size

Wingspan: 4 m, Skull length: 660 mm

Remains

Holotype (SMNK PAL 3828) : Nearly complete skull.

Age and Distribution

Crato Formation (Early Cretaceous, Aptian) Chapada do Araripe region, Ceará, Brazil.

Classification

Pterosauria Pterodactyloidea Ornithocheiroidea Ornithocheirididae

Further Reading

Frey E., Martill D. M. and Buchy C.-C., 2003, A new crested Ornithocheirid from the Lower Cretaceous of north-eastern Brazil and the unusual death of an unusual pterosaur: In: Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs, edited by Buffetaut, E., and Mazin, J.-M., Geological Society Special Publication, n. 217, p. 55-63.