Kepodactylus

Kepodactylus is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado, United States.

Kepodactylus Temporal range: Late Jurassic, Kimmeridgian–Tithonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Family:	†Ctenochasmatidae
Genus:	†Kepodactylus Harris & Carpenter, 1996
Species:	†K. insperatus
Binomial name
†Kepodactylus insperatus Harris & Carpenter, 1996

Discovery and naming

In 1992, a team from the Denver Museum of Natural History dug up a specimen of the dinosaur Stegosaurus stenops in Garden Park, Colorado. In the quarry they also found smaller disarticulated bones from other animals, among which were those of a pterosaur new to science.

In 1996, Jerald Harris and Kenneth Carpenter named the new genus. The type species is Kepodactylus insperatus. The genus name is derived from Greek, kepos, "garden", a reference to Garden Park and daktylos, "finger", referring to the typical wing finger of pterosaurs. The specific name means "unhoped-for" in Latin, alluding to the fact that the researchers hoped to find a dinosaur, and did not expect a pterosaur.

The genus is based on the holotype DMNH 21684, consisting of a cervical vertebra, humerus, several finger bones, and a metatarsal. Kepodactylus was similar to Mesadactylus but larger (wingspan around 2.5 m [8.2 ft]), and with additional pneumatic foramina (holes to allow air from air sacks to enter the bones) in the vertebrae and humerus. The describers concluded that the species was a member of the Pterodactyloidea and within this group, using the phylogeny of David Unwin, a member of a clade that is now known as Lophocratia.^[1] It was regarded as a potentially valid genus in the most recent review of Morrison pterosaurs.^[2]

Classification

The cladogram below shows a phylogenetic analysis published by Longrich, Martill, and Andres in 2018. They recovered Kepodactylus as a basal member of the family Ctenochasmatidae.^[3]

Ctenochasmatidae	Ctenochasmatinae Ctenochasma Pterodaustrini Pterodaustro Beipiaopterus Gegepterus Kepodactylus Moganopterinae Moganopterus Feilongus Ardeadactylus Elanodactylus Gnathosaurinae Huanhepterus Plataleorhynchus Gnathosaurus

See also

• List of pterosaur genera
• Timeline of pterosaur research