Gnathosaurus (meaning 'jaw lizard') is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur known from a single species, G. subulatus, described in 1833. This pterosaur had an estimated wingspan of about 1.7 meters. The slender, 28-cm-long skull had up to 130 needle-like teeth arranged laterally around the spoon-shaped tip. Fragments of Gnathosaurus jaw were first discovered in 1832 in the Solnhofen limestones of Southern Germany but were mistaken for a piece of teleosaurid crocodile jaw, hence the synonym Crocodylus multidens. Only when a complete skull was found in 1951 this animal was found to have been a pterosaur. The teeth arranged in a spoon shape may have been used to strain water for small animals, although this is conjectural.

 Several paleontologists, such as Christopher Bennett, have suggested that a purported tiny Pterodactylus species, P. micronyx, is likely a juvenile of Gnathosaurus subulatus.

 Ctenochasmatoidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. The earliest known ctenochasmatoid remains have been found in the Stonesfield Slate formation (UK), which dates to the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic, dated to about 166 million years ago.

 Репродукции (1, 2):

 Ископаемые останки:

Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Юра, авеметатарзалии, архозавроморфы, архозавры, диапсиды, ктенохазматоидеи, монофенестраты, птеродактили, птерозавры

(Leave a comment)