Editing Pterodactylus (section)

==Paleoecology==
[[File:Pterodactylus holotype fly mmartyniuk.png|thumb|left|Hypothetical restoration of ''Pterodactylus'' in its environment]]
Specimens of ''Pterodactylus'' have been found mainly in the [[Solnhofen limestone]] (geologically known as the Altmühltal Formation) of [[Bavaria]], [[Germany]]. The main composition of this formation is fine-grained [[limestone]] that originated mainly from the nearby towns [[Solnhofen]] and Eichstätt, which is formed by mud [[silt]] deposits.<ref name="ammonitedate" /> The Solnhofen Limestone is a diverse [[Lagerstätte]] that contains a wide range of different creatures, including highly detailed fossilized imprints of soft bodied organisms such as [[jellyfish]]es. Abundant specimens of pterosaurs similar to ''Pterodactylus'' were also found within the formation, these include the [[rhamphorhynchid]]s ''Rhamphorhynchus'' and ''[[Scaphognathus]]'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bennett |first=S. C. |date=2004 |title=New information on the pterosaur ''Scaphognathus crassirostris'' and the pterosaurian cervical series |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=24 |issue=Supplement 003 |pages=38A |doi=10.1080/02724634.2004.10010643 |s2cid=220415208 |issn=0272-4634}}</ref> several [[gallodactylid]]s such as ''Aerodactylus'',<ref name=bennett1996a /> ''[[Ardeadactylus]]'', ''Aurorazhdarcho'' and ''[[Cycnorhamphus]]'',<ref name=DU06 /> the [[ctenochasmatid]]s ''Ctenochasma''<ref name=bennett2007>{{cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=S.C. |year=2007 |title=A review of the pterosaur ''Ctenochasma'': taxonomy and ontogeny |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen |volume=245 |issue=1 |pages=23–31 |doi=10.1127/0077-7749/2007/0245-0023}}</ref> and ''Gnathosaurus'', the [[anurognathid]] ''[[Anurognathus]]'', the [[germanodactylid]] ''Germanodactylus'', as well as the basal [[euctenochasmatia]]n ''[[Diopecephalus]]''.<ref name=W1837 /> Fossil remains of the [[dinosaur]]s ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'' and ''[[Compsognathus]]'' were also found within the limestone, these specimens were related to early evolution of [[feathers]], since they were some of the only ones that had them during the Jurassic period.<ref name="FasWeis04">{{cite book |title=The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs |year=2005 |chapter=Theropoda I: nature red in tooth and claw |editor-last1=Fastovsky |editor-first1=D.E. |editor-last2=Weishampel |editor-first2=D.B. |last1=Fastovsky |first1=D.E. |last2=Weishampel |first2=D.B. |pages=265–299 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-81172-9 |edition=2nd |doi=10.1017/9781316471623.009}}</ref> Various [[lizard]] remains were also found alongside those of ''Pterodactylus'', with several specimens assigned to ''[[Ardeosaurus]]'', ''[[Bavarisaurus]]'' and ''[[Eichstaettisaurus]]''.<ref name="hoffstetter1966">{{cite journal |last=Hoffstetter |first=R. |year=1966 |title=A propos des genres ''Ardeosaurus'' et ''Eichstaettisaurus'' (Reptilia, Sauria, Gekkonoidea) du Jurassique Supèrieur de Franconie |trans-title=On the genera ''Ardeosaurus'' and ''Eichstaettisaurus'' (Reptilia, Sauria, Gekkonoidea) from the Upper Jurassic of France |journal=Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=592–595 |doi=10.2113/gssgfbull.S7-VIII.4.592 |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sgf/bsgf/article-abstract/S7-VIII/4/592/518861/A-propos-des-genres-Ardeosaurus-et}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Evans |first=S.E. |year=1994 |title=The Solnhofen (Jurassic: Tithonian) lizard genus ''Bavarisaurus'': new skull material and a reinterpretation |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen |volume=192 |pages=37–52 |doi=10.1127/njgpa/192/1994/37}}</ref> [[Crocodylomorph]] specimens were widely distributed within the fossil site, most were assigned to the [[metriorhynchid]] genera ''[[Cricosaurus]]'', ''[[Dakosaurus]]'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brandalise de Andrade |first1=Marco |last2=Young |first2=Mark T. |last3=Desojo |first3=Julia B. |last4=Brusatte |first4=Stephen L. |date=2010 |title=The evolution of extreme hypercarnivory in Metriorhynchidae (Mesoeucrocodylia: Thalattosuchia) based on evidence from microscopic denticle morphology |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=30 |issue=5 |pages=1451–1465 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2010.501442 |bibcode=2010JVPal..30.1451D |s2cid=83985855 |issn=0272-4634 |hdl=11336/69039 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> ''[[Geosaurus]]'' and ''[[Rhacheosaurus]]''.<ref name="Andrade & Young, 2008">{{Cite journal |last1=Brandalise de Andrade |first1=Marco |last2=Young |first2=Mark T. |year=2008 |url=http://www.svpca.org/general/pages/abstractPage.php?i=1378&r=talksAndPosters.php&y=2008 |title=High diversity of thalattosuchian crocodylians and the niche partition in the Solnhofen Sea |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603232400/http://www.svpca.org/general/pages/abstractPage.php?i=1378&r=talksAndPosters.php&y=2008 |archive-date=June 3, 2011 |journal=The 56th Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy |pages=14–15}}</ref> These genera are colloquially called as marine or sea crocodiles due to their similar built.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Young |first1=Mark T. |last2=Brusatte |first2=Stephen L. |last3=de Andrade |first3=Marco Brandalise |last4=Desojo |first4=Julia B. |last5=Beatty |first5=Brian L. |last6=Steel |first6=Lorna |last7=Fernández |first7=Marta S. |last8=Sakamoto |first8=Manabu |last9=Ruiz-Omeñaca |first9=Jose Ignacio|last10=Schoch|first10=Rainer R. |date=September 18, 2012 |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=Richard J. |title=The Cranial Osteology and Feeding Ecology of the Metriorhynchid Crocodylomorph Genera Dakosaurus and Plesiosuchus from the Late Jurassic of Europe |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=7 |issue=9 |pages=e44985 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0044985 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=3445579 |pmid=23028723 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...744985Y |doi-access=free}}</ref> The turtle genera ''[[Eurysternum]]'' and ''[[Paleomedusa]]'' were also found within the formation.<ref name="WGJ">{{cite journal |first=Walter G. |last=Joyce |year=2003 |title=A new Late Jurassic turtle specimen and the taxonomy of ''Palaeomedusa testa'' and ''Eurysternum wagleri'' |journal=PaleoBios |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=1–8 |url=http://www.geo.uni-tuebingen.de/fileadmin/website/arbeitsbereich/palaeo/biogeologie/Images/Joyce_Publications/3__Joyce_2003.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001071809/http://www.geo.uni-tuebingen.de/fileadmin/website/arbeitsbereich/palaeo/biogeologie/Images/Joyce_Publications/3__Joyce_2003.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 1, 2015}}</ref> Fossils of the [[ichthyosaur]] ''[[Aegirosaurus]]'' also appeared to be present in the site,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bardet |first1=Nathalie |last2=Fernández |first2=Marta S. |date=2000 |title=A new ichthyosaur from the Upper Jurassic lithographic limestones of Bavaria |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40662676 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |volume=74 |issue=3 |pages=503–511 |doi=10.1017/S0022336000031760 |bibcode=2000JPal...74..503B |issn=0022-3360}}</ref> as well as fish remains, with many specimens assigned to [[ray-finned fish]]es such as the [[halecomorph]]s ''[[Lepidotes]]'',<ref name="lamberstable-others"/> ''[[Propterus]]'',<ref name=Marine /> ''[[Gyrodus]]'', ''[[Mesturus]]'', ''[[Proscinetes]]'', ''[[Caturus]]'',<ref name=Marine>{{cite journal |last=Sepkoski |first=Jack |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera |journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology |volume=364 |page=560 |year=2002 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |access-date=February 27, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131237/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |archive-date=July 23, 2011}}</ref> ''[[Ophiopsis]]''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lane |first1=Jennifer A. |last2=Ebert |first2=Martin |date=2015 |title=A taxonomic reassessment of Ophiopsis (Halecomorphi, Ionoscopiformes), with a revision of Upper Jurassic species from the Solnhofen Archipelago, and a new genus of Ophiopsidae |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=e883238 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2014.883238 |bibcode=2015JVPal..35E3238L |s2cid=86350086 |issn=0272-4634}}</ref> and ''[[Ophiopsiella]]'',<ref name="lamberstable-others">{{Cite journal |last=Lambers |first=Paul H. |date=1999 |title=The actinopterygian fish fauna of the Late Kimmeridgian and Early Tithonian 'Plattenkalke' near Solnhofen (Bavaria, Germany): state of the art |journal=Geologie en Mijnbouw |volume=78 |issue=2 |pages=215–229 |doi=10.1023/A:1003855831015 |hdl=1874/420683 |s2cid=127676896 |quote=Table 1: List of actinopterygians from the Solnhofen lithographic limestone – Halecomorphi; 'Amiidae' and 'Ophiopsidae'" (p. 216) |hdl-access=free}}</ref> the [[Pachycormidae|pachycormids]] ''[[Asthenocormus]]'', ''[[Hypsocormus]]'' and ''[[Orthocormus]]'',<ref name=EoDP>{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D. |year=1999 |title=The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals |publisher=Marshall Editions |location=London |page=38 |isbn=1-84028-152-9}}</ref> as well as the [[Aspidorhynchidae|aspidorhynchid]] ''[[Aspidorhynchus]]'', and the [[ichthyodectid]] ''[[Thrissops]]''.<ref name=FT12>{{cite journal |last1=Frey |first1=E. |last2=Tischlinger |first2=H. |year=2012 |title=The Late Jurassic pterosaur ''Rhamphorhynchus'', a frequent victim of the ganoid fish ''Aspidorhynchus''? |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=e31945 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0031945 |pmid=22412850 |pmc=3296705 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2012PLoSO...731945F }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nybelin |first=Orvar |title=Versuch einer taxonomischen Revision der jurassischen Fischgattung Thrissops Agassiz. |date=1964 |publisher=Wettergren and Kerber |location=Göteborg |language=de |oclc=2672427}}</ref>