Nyctosauridae ( lat. , “Nocturnal dinosaurs” or “bat dinosaurs”) is a family of specialized soaring pterosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of North America and, possibly, Europe . The name was given in 1889 by Henry Nicholson and Richard Lidecker [1] .
| † Nyctosauridae |
Fossil remains of Nyctosaurus gracilis |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Infraclass : | Archosauromorphs |
| No rank : | Archosauriformes |
| Treasure : | † Pterosauromorphs |
| Treasure : | † Ornithocheiroidea |
| Treasure : | † Pteranodontia |
|
| International scientific name |
|---|
Nyctosauridae
Nicholson & Lydekker, 1889 |
| Synonyms |
|---|
- Nyctodactylidae Haeckel, 1895
|
| Type genus |
|---|
Nyctosaurus Marsh, 1876 |
|
Nyctosauridae are characterized by the absence of all fingers on the forelimbs, except for the wing toe. The forelimbs of most pterosaurs have four fingers: the fourth is elongated and supports the wing, and the other three, usually small, clawed, used when walking or climbing. The lack of functional fingers in this family, perhaps, indicates that they spent all their time in flight, rarely sinking to the ground. Nyctosauridae also had a distinctly enlarged protrusion for attaching muscles to the humerus (deltopectoral crest).
Nyctosauridae were mistakenly included in a similar family of Pteranodontidae , although researchers such as Christopher Bennett and Alexander Kellner concluded that they belonged to a separate line [2] . The analyzes made by David Anvin showed a close relationship between the pteranodon and the nizaurus , although the scientist used the name Pteranodontia to refer to a clade that includes both genera. Both opinions were published before the second undisputed representative of the Nyctosauridae family, Muzquizopteryx , was found in 2006 [3] .
Most of the Nyctosauridae fossils were found in strata dating to the end of the Cretaceous in the western United States and Mexico . The remains of a type species of the family, Nyctosaurus gracilis , date from 85–84.5 million years ago. Muzquizopteryx is the oldest found member of the family, known for its fossil remains, dating back to the Turonian - Cognac border (89.8 million years ago), found in the Mexican state of Coahuila [4] . However, a fragment of the humerus with a delta-pectoral crest that is distinctive for nikosaurs was found in the Romanian village of Cornet. The bone was identified by Gareth Dyke and colleagues in 2010 as possibly belonging to the European Early Cretaceous Niezavrid [5] .
Six forms are known from Maastricht : a single humerus from Mexico, possibly belonging to no- Savur , Nyctosaurus lamegoi from Brazil [6] [7] , and the complete first phalanx with a claw and a fragment of the ulna from Jordan . The Jordanian sample is of particular interest, since this is the first evidence of a niza-saur from the Old World and the latest evidence of the find of a representative of the family from the upper Maastrichtian [8] . Species of Alcione elainus , Barbaridactylus grandis , Simurghia robusta were found in Morocco near Khuribgi in the phosphate quarry of Uled Abdun in the Maastricht tier [9] .
