Tropeognathus mesembrinus
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Tropeognathus Temporal range: Aptian-Albian, 112 Ma |
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| Restored skeleton of T. mesembrinus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Family: | †Ornithocheiridae |
| Genus: |
†Tropeognathus Wellnhofer, 1987 |
| Type species | |
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†Tropeognathus mesembrinus Wellnhofer, 1987 |
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| Species | |
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†T. mesembrinus Wellnhofer, 1987 |
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| Synonyms | |
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†T. mesembrinus Wellnhofer, 1987
Tropeognathus is a genus of large pterosaurs from the late Cretaceous Period of South America. It was a member of the Ornithocheiridae (alternately Anhangueridae), a group of pterosaurs known for their keel-tipped snouts, and was closely related to species of the genus Anhanguera. The type and only species is Tropeognathus mesembrinus; a second species, Tropeognathus robustus, is now considered to belong to Anhanguera.
In the 1980s the German Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie at Munich acquired a pterosaur skull from Brazilian fossil dealers that had probably been found in Ceará, in the Chapade do Araripe. In 1987 it was named and described as the type species Tropeognathus mesembrinus by Peter Wellnhofer. The generic name is derived from Greek τρόπις, tropis, "keel", and γνάθος, gnathos, "jaw". The specific name is derived from Koine mesembrinos, "of the noontide", "southern", in reference to the provenance from the Southern hemisphere.
The holotype, BSP 1987 I 46, was discovered in a layer of the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation, dating from the Aptian-Albian. It consists of a skull with lower jaws. A second specimen was referred by André Jacques Veldmeijer in 2002: SMNS 56994, consisting of partial lower jaws. In 2013, Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner referred a third, larger, specimen: MN 6594-1, a skeleton with skull, with extensive elements of all body parts, except the tail and the lower hindlimbs.
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