Dolicorhamphus

Dolicorhamphus; Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, ; Bathonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Un-numbered holotype mandible of D. bucklandi (top) and holotype mandible GSM 113723 of D. depressirostris (bottom)
	D. depressirostris mandible GSM 113723 seen from four different angles
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Family:	†Rhamphorhynchidae
Genus:	†Dolicorhamphus; Seeley, 1885
Species
	†D. bucklandii (von Meyer, 1832); †D. depressirostris (Huxley, 1859);
Synonyms
	Dolichorhamphus (sic); Pterodactylus bucklandii von Meyer, 1832; Rhamphocephalus bucklandii Lydekker, 1888; Rhamphocephalus depressirostris Lydekker, 1888; Rhamphorhynchus bucklandii Huxley, 1859; Rhamphorhynchus depressirostris Huxley, 1859;

Dolicorhamphus is an extinct genus of pterosaurs from the Middle Jurassic Taynton Limestone Formation and Fuller's Earth Formations of England. The genus contains two species, D. bucklandii and D. depressirostris.^[5]

Discovery and naming

D. bucklandi is based on its holotype, a now lost^[5] jaw from the Taynton Limestone Formation that was described as a species of Pterodactylus in 1832,^[2] and the list of known specimens are: NHMUK PV R 28610, 32752, 37765, 38014, 38015, 38016, 38017, 38019, 38020, 38025, 40126, 47994, 47999a, 1028, 1029, 1030, 1824, 2637, 6749, 6750 (Steel 2012); OUM J.28275, J.28537, J.283043, which include limb elements that show no crossover with the holotype jaw.^[5] The holotype jaw measured roughly 8.89 centimetres (3.50 in) in length and was given to Thomas Henry Huxley by Henry Reynolds-Moreton.^[4]

D. depressirostris is based on its holotype, GSM 113723 (a mandible), and NHMUK PV R 40126 (isolated limb elements) and GSM 113723 has been damaged with the right ramus broken off and reattached.^[5] The teeth of D. depressirostris reached up to 15 inches (38 cm) long and the elongate jaw, thin bone walls, the dental arrangement and smooth bone texture confirmed that it was a pterosaur.^[5]

Classification

Both species of Dolicorhamphus were assigned to the wastebasket genus Rhamphocephalus, considered a "rhamphorhynchoid" pterosaur. However, the type species of Rhamphocephalus, R. prestwichii, was reinterpreted as a thalattosuchian by O'Sullivan and Martill on 2018, but "R." depressirostris and "R." bucklandii were clearly pterosaurian; the former was considered to be in the Scaphognathinae while the latter was only referred to a more general Rhamphorhynchidae.^[6] Andres (2021) resurrected the genus Dolicorhamphus for the two, finding it to be a valid genus of pterosaurs closely related to Klobiodon, although he did not assign a type species.^[7] This generic assignment has since been followed by other researchers.^[8]

Gallery

Holotype jaw and tooth of D. bucklandii; from Geikie (1902^[9])
Outdated reconstruction of D. bucklandii; from Geikie (1902^[9])

References

^ Seeley, H.G. (1885). Phillips' Manual of Geology 2nd edition. Vol. I. Charles Griffin & Company, London. p. 518.
^ ^a ^b H. v. Meyer. (1832). Palaeologica zur Geschichte der Erde und ihrer Geschöpfe; Verlag von Siegmund Schmerber, Frankfurt am Main 1-560
^ Lydekker, R. (1888). Catalogue of the fossil reptilia and amphibia in the British Museum (Natural History) Part I: Containing the Orders Ornithosauria, Crocodilia, Dinosauria, Squamata, Rhynchocephalia, and Proterosauria. 339 pp. Order of the Trustees, London.
^ ^a ^b T. H. Huxley. (1859). On Rhamphorhynchus bucklandi, a new pterosaurian from the Stonesfield Slate. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 15:658-670.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e O'Sullivan, Michael; Martill, David (2018). "Pterosauria of the Great Oolite Group (Middle Jurassic, Bathonian) of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, England". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 63. doi:10.4202/app.00490.2018.
^ O'Sullivan, Michael; Martill, David (2018). "Pterosauria of the Great Oolite Group (Middle Jurassic, Bathonian) of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, England". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 63. doi:10.4202/app.00490.2018.
^ Andres, Brian (2021-12-07). "Phylogenetic systematics of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (sup1): 203–217. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1801703. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 245078533.
^ Martínez, R. N.; Andres, B.; Apaldetti, C.; Cerda, I. A. (2022). "The dawn of the flying reptiles: first Triassic record in the southern hemisphere". Papers in Palaeontology. 8 (2): e1424. doi:10.1002/spp2.1424. ISSN 2056-2799. S2CID 247494547.
^ ^a ^b 1902 Geikie Geology 19thcenturyscience.org