Taxonomic review of the Ornithocheirus complex (Pterosauria) from the Cretaceous of England
Author
Rodrigues, Taissa
Department of Biology, Agrarian Sciences Center, Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo. Alto Universitario s / n, Caixa Postal 16, Guararema, CEP 29500 - 000, Alegre, ES, Brazil
taissa.rodrigues@gmail.com
Author
Kellner, Alexander Wilhelm Armin
Laboratory of Systematics and Taphonomy of Fossil Vertebrates, Department of Geology and Paleontology, Museu Nacional / Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Quinta da Boa Vista s / n, Sao Cristovao, CEP 20940 - 040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
text
ZooKeys
2013
2013-06-12
308
1
112
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.308.5559
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.308.5559
1313-2970-308-1
EEC31850AAAB4081B05AB80A2D944658
FFA2FFFEFFE74632FFB7FFC7D553CE26
577662
Ornithocheirus carteri Seeley, 1870
(nomen dubium)
Fig. 16E-H
Ornithocheirus carteri
Seeley:
Seeley 1869
: p. xvi [disclaimed]
Ornithocheirus carteri
Seeley:
Seeley 1870
: p. 128
Criorhynchus carteri
(Seeley):
Hooley 1914
: p. 536
Criorhynchus simus
(Owen):
Wellnhofer 1978
: p. 60
Ornithocheirus simus
(Owen):
Unwin 2001
: table 1
Holotype.
CAMSM B 54437, anterior portion of the rostrum (
Fig. 16E-H
).
Type locality.
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.
Type horizon.
Cambridge Greensand (Cenomanian; fossils Albian in age).
Description.
Seeley (1870)
named this species based on some differences between CAMSM B 54437 and the holotype of
Ornithocheirus
simus
. He noted that the rostrum is not as high and narrower; the lateral surfaces bear several longitudinal furrows, which he believed to be impressions of blood vessels; and the first pair of teeth are larger, more conical, circular, and separated by a large gap. Although the rostrum is not as tall as in
Ornithocheirus simus
, it is not possible to determine if this size difference is merely ontogenetic. However, the separation between the right and left teeth of the first pair of alveoli is larger than the holotype of
Ornithocheirus simus
. Therefore, we reject referring
Ornithocheirus carteri
to
Ornithocheirus simus
and consider it a
nomen dubium
.