page_title: Cearadactylus
section_title: Discovery
hierarchical_section_title: Cearadactylus / Discovery
caption_attribution_description: ( 9 ) KREIDE vor 110 Mio. Jahre vor unserer Zeit --- Eine Verbreiterung an der Spitze des Kiefers nutzte Cearadactylus um schlüpfrige Fiche festzuhalten. Die Zähne griffen bei geschlosenem Maul ineinander. Fischfresser - Flügelspannweite 4 m - Gewicht 11 kg Raw image - free for creative commons - a link back would be nice:)
context_page_description: Cearadactylus is a genus of large pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Romualdo Formation of Brazil, South America. Fossil remains of Cearadactylus dated back to the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous period, about 112 million years ago. The only known species is C. atrox, described and named in 1985 by Giuseppe Leonardi and Guido Borgomanero. The name refers to the Brazilian state Ceará, and combines this with Greek daktylos, "finger", a reference to the wing finger of pterosaurs. The Latin atrox means "frightful", a reference to the fearsome dentition of the species.
context_section_description: The holotype is MN 7019-V (earlier CB-PV-F-O93), from the Romualdo Formation of the Santana Group. This fossil, a single skull with a length of 57 centimeters (1.87 ft), was discovered on the Araripe plateau in northeastern Brazil. It was traded to Italy in 1983 and bought by Borgomanero for his collection. The skull is severely damaged, especially on the top, and was perhaps reconstructed by the fossil dealer.
   
  As shown by a later preparation by the Brazilian Museu Nacional, in the first preparation many serious mistakes were made. The fronts of the snout and of the lower jaws were confused leading to a reconstruction in which the anterior part of the head was upside down. The teeth were extensively restored and enlarged until the wider front of the jaws showed very large and robust teeth projecting outwards, forming a sort of "rosette". This kinked upper jaw and its interlocking teeth suggested a piscivourous diet, allowing the animal to keep hold of slippery fish. No crests seemed to be present. The new preparation made clear that a crest was present on the snout and that the rosette was a lot smaller. Many details were discovered that were useful in determining the phylogenetic position of Cearadactylus.
  In 1993, Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia named a second species, Cearadactylus ligabuei. The specific name honors Giancarlo Ligabue, the director of the Centro Sudi Ricerche Ligabue in Venice. It is based on holotype CCSRL 12692/12713, again a heavily damaged crestless skull, 403 millimeters (15.9 in) long. The skull consists of two pieces, the front and the back part, glued together by fossil traders; it is uncertain whether they belong to the same individual or indeed to the same species. Dalla Vecchia was himself not convinced the new species in fact belonged to Cearadactylus, but the skull was not sufficiently unique to base its own genus on yet still too different from known species to be assigned to them, so he created a new species for the genus the fossil most resembled. Later authors have consistently denied the identity referring to the taxon as "Cearadactylus" ligabuei.
  Dalla Vecchia estimated the wingspan of "C." ligabuei at 6 meters (20 ft); Kellner, pointing out that the skull is not larger than the C. atrox holotype, estimated it at 5 meters (16 ft) at the most. Dalla Vecchia assigned C. ligabuei to the Cearadactylidae. Kellner concluded it was probably a member of Anhangueridae; Unwin in 2002 even named it Anhanguera ligabuei. In 2005, Steel et al. suggested that it was a Coloborhynchus ligabuei.
caption: Model in Germany, showing how the jaws where originally reconstructed
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