Re: Ornithocheirus

["Mickey Mortimer" <Mickey_Mortimer111@msn.com>]

Christopher Taylor

> Could anyone please clear up a bit of confusion for me? In Unwin's recent
> paper in the Buffetaut and Mazin book of last year, a list of pterosaur
> species was given. _Ornithocheirus_ was listed with two species, _O.
simus_
> and _O. mesembrinus_. I'm guessing that these equal _Criorhynchus simus_
and
> _Tropeognathus mesembrinus_, respectively, in Wellnhofer (1991).
Meanwhile,
> _Lonchodectes_ was listed with a number of species, which looked (again,
at
> a guess) to be species I saw listed under _Ornithocheirus_ in Wellnhofer.
So
> neither of the _Ornithocheirus_ species was previously _Ornithocheirus_,
> while the previous _Ornithocheirus_ species are no longer
_Ornithocheirus_.
>     What is the type species of _Ornithocheirus_, and what is it's current
> status?

Contrary to just about any source you'll see, the type species of
Ornithocheirus is O. simus, which was later made the type species of
Criorhynchus due to a misunderstanding.  It's an ornithocheirid, of course,
a taxon also including Coloborhynchus, Anhanguera, Brasileodactylus,
Santanadactylus, Araripesaurus and Arthurdactylus.  Most of the "typical"
Ornithocheirus species turned out to be Lonchodectes, Anhanguera and
Coloborhynchus.  Coloborhynchus may actually be a senior synonym of
Anhanguera, and several of the Santana taxa could be synonymous.  See
http://www.cmnh.org/dinoarch/2003Sep/msg00388.html .

Ornithocheirus Seeley 1869
O. simus (Owen, 1861) Seeley 1869
= Pterodactylus simus Owen 1861
= Pterodactylus "carteri" Seeley 1865
= Ornithocheirus "carteri" Seeley 1869
= Ornithocheirus "platyrhinus" Seeley 1869
= Ornithocheirus carteri Seeley 1870
= Ornithocheirus platyrhinus Seeley 1870
= Criorhynchus simus Owen 1874
= Criorhynchus carteri Hooley 1914
= Criorhynchus platyrhinus Hooley 1914

Mickey Mortimer