Brasileodactylus

Name: Brasileodactylus (Brasil finger).
Phonetic: Bra-zil-eoh-dak-ty-lus.
Named By: Alexander Kellner - 1984.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea.
Species: B. araripensis (type).
Type: Piscivore.
Size: Uncertain due to incomplete fossil material. Skull 42.9 centimetres long.
Known locations: Brazil - Santana Formation.
Time period: Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Several specimens together revealing partial skull and partial post cranial remains.

       Brasileodactylus may have had a crest on the back of its head, and this is why Ludodactylus has been suggested as a synonym of Brasileodactylus. Both pterosaurs have very similar skulls, but Ludodactylus has a crest similar in appearance to that of Pteranodon. If Brasileodactylus is proven to have a crest like Ludodactylus then Ludodactylus would most likely become a synonym of Brasileodactylus.
       Brasileodactylus was originally assigned to the Ornithocheiridae group of pterosaurs, although many researchers now place Brasileodactylus into the more general Pterodactyloidea which includes all 'advanced' pterosaurs. Still, Brasileodactylus has a similar skull morphology to Ornithocheirid pterosaurs, although it does lack crests on the snout, as can be seen in Ornithocheirus itself.

Further reading
- Ocorrência de uma mandibula de pterosauria (Brasileodactylus araripensis, nov. gen.; nov. sp.) na Formação Santana, Cretáceo da Chapada do Araripe, Ceará-Brasil. - Anais XXXIII Cong. Brasil. de Geol, 578–590. - A. W. A. Kellner - 1984.

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