Anhangueridae

Anhangueridae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea.^[2] They were among the last pterosaurs to possess teeth. A recent study discussing the group considered the Anhangueridae to be typified by a premaxillary crest and a lateral expansion in the distal rostrum. The same study presented a cladistic analysis, for which an "agreement subtree" was calculated. The Anhangueridae was found to be sister taxon to the large crested Tropeognathus.^[3]

Anhanguerids Temporal range: Early-Late Cretaceous, 140–92.5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Anhanguera santanae skeleton
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Clade:	†Anhangueria
Family:	†Anhangueridae Campos & Kellner 1985
Type species
†Anhanguera blittersdorffi Campos & Kellner, 1985
Subgroups
†Anhanguerinae †Anhanguera †Araripesaurus? †Arthurdactylus? †Brasileodactylus? †Caulkicephalus? †Cearadactylus? †Guidraco? †Liaoningopterus †Ludodactylus? †Maaradactylus †Santanadactylus?^[1] †Coloborhynchinae? †Aerodraco †Coloborhynchus †Nicorhynchus †Ornithocheirus? †Siroccopteryx? †Uktenadactylus Tropeognathinae? †Amblydectes †Ornithocheirus? †Siroccopteryx? †Tropeognathus †Mythungini †Ferrodraco †Mythunga †Thapunngaka

Relationships

There are competing theories of ornithocheiromorph phylogeny (evolutionary relationships). Below is cladogram following a topology recovered by Brian Andres, using the most recent iteration of his data set.^[4]

Anhangueridae	Aerodraco sedgwickii Liaoningopterus gui Anhanguera Anhanguera robustus Anhanguera piscator Anhanguera blittersdorffi

The cladogram below follows Pêgas et al. (2019), who recovered Anhangueridae as a much more inclusive group. The analysis found most of the ornithocheirids falling into this family, while Ornithocheirus itself was recovered as a basal member of Ornithocheirae.^[5]

Anhangueria	Hamipteridae Hamipterus Iberodactylus Anhangueridae Tropeognathus Coloborhynchinae Coloborhynchus Siroccopteryx Uktenadactylus Anhanguerinae Caulkicephalus Guidraco Ludodactylus Anhanguera Liaoningopterus Cearadactylus Maaradactylus

The clagogram below is reproduced from Richards et al., (2023), who based their data matrix on the data matrix in Holgado and Pêgas, (2020). In the paper they erect the clade Mythungini which comprises all Australian tropeognathines.^[6]

Anhangueridae	Coloborhynchinae Aerodraco Coloborhynchus Nicorhynchus Uktenadactylus Anhanguerinae Ludodactylus Caulkicephalus Guidraco Liaoningopterus Cearadactylus Maaradactylus AMNH 22555 Anhanguera Tropeognathinae Siroccopteryx Tropeognathus Amblydectes Mythungini Ferrodraco Thapunngaka Mythunga

References

1. Renan A. M. Bantim; Antônio A. F. Saraiva; Gustavo R. Oliveira; Juliana M. Sayão (2014). "A new toothed pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Anhangueridae) from the Early Cretaceous Romualdo Formation, NE Brazil". Zootaxa. 3869 (3): 201–223. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3869.3.1. PMID 25283914.
2. Campos, D. A. & Kellner, Alexander W. A. (1985). "Panorama of the flying reptiles study in Brazil and South America". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 57: 453–466.
3. Rodrigues, Taissa & Kellner, Alexander W. A. (2013). "Taxonomic review of the Ornithocheirus complex (Pterosauria) from the Cretaceous of England". ZooKeys (308): 1–112. doi:10.3897/zookeys.308.5559. PMC 3689139. PMID 23794925.
4. Andres, B. (2021). "Phylogenetic systematics of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41: 203–217. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1801703. S2CID 245078533.
5. Pêgas, Rodrigo V.; Holgado, Borja & Leal, Maria Eduarda C. (2019). "On Targaryendraco wiedenrothi gen. nov. (Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontoidea, Lanceodontia) and recognition of a new cosmopolitan lineage of Cretaceous toothed pterodactyloids". Historical Biology. 33 (8): 1266-1280. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1690482. S2CID 209595986.
6. Richards, Timothy; Stumkat, Paul; Salisbury, Steven (6 October 2023). "A second specimen of the pterosaur Thapunngaka shawi from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) Toolebuc Formation of North West Queensland, Australia". Cretaceous Research. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105740. Retrieved 7 October 2023.