Pterodactylus antiquus

Pterodactylus Temporal range: Early Tithonian, 150.8–148.5 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Sub-adult type specimen of P. antiquus, Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Family:	†Pterodactylidae
Genus:	†Pterodactylus Cuvier, 1809
Type species
†Pterodactylus antiquus Sömmerring, 1812
Species
†Pterodactylus antiquus (Sömmerring, 1812) †Pterodactylus kochi? (Wagner, 1837)
Synonyms
Genus synonymy Ornithocephalus Sömmering, 1812 Pterotherium Fischer, 1813 Macrotrachelus Giebel, 1852 Diopecephalus? Seeley, 1871 Species synonymy Pterodactylus longirostris Cuvier, 1819 Pterodactylus crocodilocephaloides Ritgen, 1826 Ornithocephalus kochi? Wagner, 1837 Pterodactylus mayeri Muenster, 1842 Pterodactylus spectabilis Meyer, 1861 Pterodactylus westmani Wiman, 1925 Pterodactylus cormoranus Döderlein, 1929

Pterodactylus (/ˌtɛrəˈdæktᵻləs/ TERR-ə-DAK-til-əs, from the Greek πτεροδάκτυλος, pterodaktulos, meaning "winged finger") is an extinct flying reptile genus of pterosaurs, whose members are popularly known as pterodactyls ( /ˌtɛrəˈdæktᵻlz/). It is currently thought to contain only a single species, Pterodactylus antiquus, the first pterosaur species to be named and identified as a flying reptile.

The fossil remains of this species have been found primarily in the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, Germany, dated to the late Jurassic Period (early Tithonian), about 150.8–148.5 million years ago, though more fragmentary remains have been tentatively identified from elsewhere in Europe and in Africa.