Pegas 2025 looks at Ornithocheiriformes
Known chiefly from several crested toothy rostrums,
along with a few more complete skeletons (Fig 1) the Early Cretaceous pterosaur clade, Ornithocheiriformes is the subject of a 2025 RV Pegas (solo author!) paper.
Figure 1. The Ornithocheiridae. Click to enlarge and expand.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ornithocheirids588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ornithocheirids588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-1434″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ornithocheirids588.jpg” alt=”The Ornithocheiridae.” width=”584″ height=”286″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ornithocheirids588.jpg?w=584&h=286 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ornithocheirids588.jpg?w=150&h=73 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ornithocheirids588.jpg?w=300&h=147 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ornithocheirids588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. The Ornithocheiridae in the LRT. Click to enlarge and expand.
Pegas wrote,
“Ornithocheiriformes (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Lanceodontia) is the clade
comprising all species closer to Ornithocheirus simus than Istiodactylus latidens.”
In the large pterosaur tree (LPT, 264 taxa, click graphic in figure 1) the traditional clade ‘Pterodactyloidea’ is not monophyletic and toothy ornithocheirids are not related to toothless pteranodontids (see the headline below, which does not match this quote).
What does ‘all species closer’ actually mean?
By what authority? Which cladogram? And in what direction?And how far out = closer?
Figure 2. Cladogram from Pegas 2025. Taxa also appearing in the LRT are shown in red and green on frame 2.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pegas-2025-ornithocheiriformes588-2.gif?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pegas-2025-ornithocheiriformes588-2.gif?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-93327″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pegas-2025-ornithocheiriformes588-2.gif” alt=”Figure 2. Cladogram from Pegas 2025. Taxa also appearing in the LRT are shown in red and green on frame 2.” width=”584″ height=”426″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pegas-2025-ornithocheiriformes588-2.gif?w=584&h=426 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pegas-2025-ornithocheiriformes588-2.gif?w=150&h=109 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pegas-2025-ornithocheiriformes588-2.gif?w=300&h=219 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pegas-2025-ornithocheiriformes588-2.gif 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Cladogram from Pegas 2025. Taxa also appearing in the LRT are shown in red and green on frame 2.
Let’s get back to defining clades the regular way:
with a last common ancestor and all descendants from a wide gamut cladogram that minimizes taxon exclusion.
Figure 3. Subset of the LPT focusing on ornithocheirids and their relatives. Those shared with the Pegas study are in green.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ornithocheirids.lpt588.jpg?w=124″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ornithocheirids.lpt588.jpg?w=422″ class=”size-full wp-image-93329″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ornithocheirids.lpt588.jpg” alt=”Figure 3. Subset of the LPT focusing on ornithocheirids and their relatives. Those shared with the Pegas study are in green. ” width=”584″ height=”1418″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ornithocheirids.lpt588.jpg?w=584&h=1418 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ornithocheirids.lpt588.jpg?w=62&h=150 62w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ornithocheirids.lpt588.jpg?w=124&h=300 124w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ornithocheirids.lpt588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 3. Subset of the LPT focusing on ornithocheirids and their relatives. Those shared with the Pegas study are in green.
Pegas included the wukongipterid Hamipterus
in the published cladogram (Fig 2). It’s easy to see why (Fig 4) with regard to morphology and chronology. It is similar in several regards.
Unfortunately, adding taxa and post-crania moves Hamipterus to the wukongipterids. See link below. Add taxa to your own large pterosaur tree so you don’t have this taxon omission / inappropriate inclusion issue. More taxa = more accurate cladogram.
Figure 4. The ornithocheirid Tropeognathus specimens and the smaller wukongipterid, Hamipterus, to scale.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/tropeognathus_hamipterus588.jpg?w=217″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/tropeognathus_hamipterus588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-93331″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/tropeognathus_hamipterus588.jpg” alt=”Figure 4. The ornithocheirid Tropeognathus specimens and the smaller wukongipterid, Hamipterus, to scale.” width=”584″ height=”807″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/tropeognathus_hamipterus588.jpg?w=584&h=807 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/tropeognathus_hamipterus588.jpg?w=108&h=150 108w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/tropeognathus_hamipterus588.jpg?w=217&h=300 217w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/tropeognathus_hamipterus588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 4. The ornithocheirid Tropeognathus specimens and the smaller wukongipterid, Hamipterus, to scale.
Lesson learned:
Whenever you entertain the thought of doing a phylogenetic analysis, add more taxa than you think you need.
Don’t cherry-pick taxa, even if editors and referees approve.
References
Pêgas RV, Holgado, B and Leal MEC 2019. On Targaryendraco wiedenrothi gen. nov. (Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontoidea, Lanceodontia) and recognition of a new cosmopolitan lineage of Cretaceous toothed pterodactyloids. Historical Biology, 33(8):1266-1280. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2019.1690482
Pêgas RV 2025. On the systematics and phylogenetic nomenclature of the Ornithocheiriformes (Pterosauria, Pteranodontoidea). Palaeontologia Electronica, 28(2):a25. https://doi.org/10.26879/20
palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025/5546-systematics-of-ornithocheiriform-pterosaurs
wiki/Ornithocheiromorpha
wiki/Pterodactyloidea
Hamipterus is a big Darwinopterus with long hands, not an ornithocheirid
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/06/23/pegas-2025-looks-at-ornithocheiriformes/
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