Lower Cretaceous Period
Istiodactylus latidens
Istiodactylus (sail finger) latidens (broad tooth)
Several fragmentary associated remains of Jaw, skull, vertebrae and long bones from the Vectis Formation, Isle of Wight. This pterosaur was originally classified as Ornithodesmus based on a previously discovered similar sacrum fossil specimen. The former was found to be that of a theropod dinosaur and so The pterosaur was re-classified as Istiodactylus.
Holotype : BMNH R.176 in the Natural History Museum, London.
The skull length is about 56cm and the wingspan is close to 5m. The specimens are of Barremian, Aptian age.
Hooley R. W., 1913, On the skeleton of Ornithodesmus latidens; an Ornithosaur from the Wealden Shales of Atherfield (Isle of Wight), Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, vol. 69 (number 274), pages 372-422.
Howse, S. C. B. & Milner, A. R., 1993, Ornithodesmus - A manirapteran theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, England, Palaeontology, 36, pp. 425-437.
Howse S. C. B., Milner A. R. and Martill D. M., 2001, Pterosaurs: In - Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight, edited by Martill D. M. and Naish D., The Palaeontological Association, p. 324-335. (Istiodactylus latidens = Ornithodesmus latidens)
Natural
History Museum, London
R.0176
Cranium, wing bones, sternum and vertebra
R.3877 Partial skeleton including jaw much of the wing,
sternum, hip and leg bones
R.3878 Wing bones, scapula, coracoid and notarium
Museum of Zoology, Cambridge
T.706 Skull (12 fragments) assembled into 5 pieces, 30 cm of anterior jaws
including nares, plus a long bone fragment