Gnathosaurus subulatus

The first remains of Gnathosaurus (a jaw fragment) found in the Solnhofen limestones of Bavaria were mistaken with those of a crocodile. This small size pterosaur is characterized by a slender skull comparable to Ctenochasma but with a distinct sagittal crest on top of the snout. A series of vertebrae from the Purbeck Limestones in England, named Pterodactylus macrurus may belong to G. subulatus.

Name

Gnathosaurus subulatus

Authority

Meyer, 1834

Meaning of generic name

Jaw Lizard.

Meaning of specific name

"with an awl/awls" or "awled" (referring to teeth)

Size

Skull length: 28 cm, Wingspan: 1.7 m

Remains

Several skeletons.

Age and Distribution

Late Jurassic (Tithonian), Solnhofen limestones, Bavaria, Southern Germany.

Purbeck limestones, Wealden, Dorset, England, UK.

Classification

Pterosauria Pterodactyloidea Ctenochasmatoidea Ctenochasmatidae Gnatosaurinae

Further Reading

Seeley H. G., 1869, Note on the Pterodactylus macrurus (Seeley), a new species from the Purbeck Limestone, indicated by caudal vertebrae five inches long, (and) Note on the thinning away to the westward in the Isle of Purbeck of the Wealden and Lower Greensand strata. Proc. Cambridge philos. Soc. 7-10, 130.

Synonyms

Crocodilus multidens Munster, 1832; Gnathosaurus multidens (Munster, 1832); Gavialis priscus Quenstedt, 1855 (nomen dubium); Gnathosaurus macrurus (Seeley, 1869) Howse & Milner, 1995; Pterodactylus macrurus Seeley, 1869 (nomen dubium)