Name:
Cuspicephalus
(Pointed snout).
Phonetic: Cus-pis-sef-ah-luss.
Named By: David M. Martill & Steve
Etches - 2011.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Pterosauria, Breviquartossa, Monofenestrata.
Species: C. scarfi (type).
Diet: Uncertain but possibly a piscivore by the
shape of the skull.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of fossil material,
but skull is 326 millimetres long, 55 millimetres high.
Known locations: England, Dorset - Kimmeridge
Clay Formation.
Time period: Kimmeridgian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial skull.
The
partially preserved skull of Cuspicephalus was first recovered in
2009 by Steve Etches, and is preserved on a slab of stone.
Although incomplete the feature that stands out most at first glance
is the enlarged nasoantorbital fenestra (the opening that would be in
front of the eye socket) that is greater than half the total length
of the skull. There is also the presence of the base of a head crest
that would have risen upwards from the skull that according to the
describers may have grown quite high. This is quite a reasonable
supposition as pterosaurs
that have large skull crests often have large
fenestra as well in order to save on total skull weight. The nature
of the crest material present also suggests that it was actually the
base growth of the crest. Pterosaur crests are not thought to have
always been solid bone throughout, with some being of softer body
tissue that is weaker and does not preserve as well, but still has a
more solid base. Softer material would actually be more able to
change colour such as becoming more enriched during the breeding
season, while becoming duller in other times of the year and
individuals that were out of condition.
Like
with so many other pterosaurs the skull of Cuspicephalus has a
rectangular cross section, something that would have increased
strength while still remaining light weight. The dimensions of
Cuspicephalus’s skull give it a rostral index of 5.4, the largest
of any other known pterosaur. Around a dozen teeth are present in the
skull although the total amount for the living animal may be double
this. The teeth are also largest at the front of the mouth and in
other piscivorous pterosaurs this is seen as an adaptation to increase
the chance of prey capture as the beak is dipped into the water to
snatch a fish. It is also seen in some ctenochasmid pterosaurs
however that strain invertebrates out of the water. While the lower
jaw of Cuspicephalus is still unknown, the dentition here would have
likely mirrored the upper jaw so that the teeth intermeshed together to
create a better prey trap.
Determining
the phylogenetic placement of Cuspicephalus is difficult, not just
because of the incomplete preservation of the remains but because they
lack clearly identifiable group characterisitcs. While some have
proposed a similarity to pterodactyloids like Germanodactylus,
most
palaeontologists recognise that it is more similar to wukongipteroid
pterosaurs like Darwinopterus.
Still the fossil material is not
complete enough to confirm its identity either way which is why it
retains a position within the Monofenestrata, an unranked group that
is used as a junction point that leads into both the Pterodactyloidea
and Wukongopteridae.
Binomal
animal names are usually based upon a defining physical characteristic
and in this case both genus and species name reflect this.
Cuspicephalus roughly translates as ‘pointed snout’ while the
species name honours cartoonist Gerald Scarfe whose artistic style sees
people drawn with pointed noses, something that could be interpreted
as similar to the beak of a pterosaur.
Further reading
- A new monofenestratan pterosaur from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation
(Kimmeridgian, Upper Jurassic) of Dorset, England. - Acta
Palaeontologica Polonica 58(2):285-294 - D. M. Martill & S.
Etches - 2013.
- The relationships of Cuspicephalus scarfi Martill and Etches, 2013
and Normannognathus wellnhoferi Buffetaut et al., 1998 to other
monofenestratan pterosaurs. - Contributions to Zoology. 84 (2):
115–127. - Mark P. Witton, Michael O’Sullivan & David M.
Martill - 2015.