Anurognathus

Anurognathus Temporal range: Late Jurassic, 150.8–148.5 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Restoration of the holotype specimen by Jaime Headden
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	†Pterosauria
Family:	†Anurognathidae
Subfamily:	†Anurognathinae Nopcsa, 1928
Genus:	†Anurognathus Döderlein, 1923
Species:	†A. ammoni
Binomial name
Anurognathus ammoni Döderlein, 1923

Anurognathus is a genus of small pterosaur that lived during the late Jurassic Period (Tithonian stage). Anurognathus was first named and described by Ludwig Döderlein in 1923. The type species is Anurognathus ammoni. The genus name Anurognathus is derived from the Greek αν/an- ("without"), оυρα/oura ("tail"), and γναθος/gnathos ("jaw") in reference to its unusually small tail relative to other "rhamphorhynchoid" (i.e. basal) pterosaurs. The specific name ammoni honours the Bavarian geologist Ludwig von Ammon, from whose collection Döderlein had acquired the fossil in 1922.

The genus is based on holotype BSP 1922.I.42 (Bayerische Staatssammlung für Palaeontologie und Geologie), found in the Solnhofen limestone near Eichstätt. It consists of a crushed, relatively complete skeleton on a slab. The counterslab is missing and with it most of the bones: much of the skeleton is only visible as an impression.

Anurognathus had a short head with pin-like teeth for catching insects and although it traditionally is ascribed to the long-tailed pterosaur group "Rhamphorhynchoidea", its tail was comparatively short, allowing it more maneuverability for hunting. According to Döderlein the reduced tail of Anurognathus was similar to the pygostyle of modern birds. Its more typical "rhamphorhynchoid" characters include its elongated fifth toe and short metacarpals and neck. With an estimated wingspan of fifty centimetres (20 inches) and a nine centimetre long body (skull included), its weight was limited: in 2008 Mark Paul Witton estimated a mass of forty grammes for a specimen with a 35 centimetre wingspan. The holotype was redescribed by Peter Wellnhofer in 1975.