Pterodactylus - Classification

Classification

The genus now known as Pterodactylus was originally named Petro-Dactyle by Cuvier in 1809, though this was a typographical error, later corrected by him to Ptéro-Dactyle. In 1812, Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring named the same specimen Ornithocephalus antiquus. As the senior synonym, Cuvier's name has precedence, so applying modern rules for the combination of the genus name and the specific epithet, the valid species name became Ptéro-Dactyle antiquus. The genus name was Latinized to the current Pterodactylus by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815, which by these rules is the valid name as they do not allow for diacritics or hyphens. Unaware of Rafinesque's publication Cuvier himself in 1819 again Latinized the genus, but the specific name he then gave, longirostris, has to give precedence to von Soemmerring's antiquus. In 1888 Richard Lydekker designated Pterodactylus antiquus the type species. The original specimen is the holotype of the genus, BSP No. AS.I.739.

Hermann von Meyer, in 1830, used the name Pterodactyli to contain Pterodactylus and other pterosaurs known at the time. This was emended to the family Pterodactylidae by Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1838. This family has more recently been used to refer to many similar species from Germany and elsewhere, though recent studies suggest it may be a paraphyletic or polyphyletic unnatural grouping with respect to more advanced members of the Ctenochasmatoidea (or Archaeopterodactyloidea).