Lower Jurassic Pterosaurs
The Lower Jurassic period started about 190 million years ago and the United Kingdom stages are all classified as Lias.
Upper Lias
Middle Lias
Lower Lias
Toarcian
Upper Pliensbachian (Domerian)
Lower Pliensbachian (Carixian)
Sinemurian
Hettangian
Bridport Sand and Down Cliff Clay (Dorset)
Peak Shale and Alum Shale Series (Yorkshire)
Jet Rock Series and Grey Shales (Yorkshire)
Marlstone Rock Bed
Marlstone Rock Bed
Thorncomb Sands and Down Cliff sands (Dorset)
Starfish Bed, Eype Clay and Three Tiers (Dorset)
Green Ammonite Beds (Dorset)
Belemnite Marls (Dorset)
Black Marl (Dorset)
Shale-with-Beef (Dorset)
Blue Lias
Upper Watchet Beds
The United Kingdom has a limited number of pterosaur fossils from this timescale. The most significant being Dimorphodon macronyx from the Lower Lias and Blue Lias of Dorset and Gloucestershire. There is also an important skull fossil, Perhapsicephalus Purdoni, from the Upper Lias Alum Shale of Yorkshire. Other Lower Jurassic pterosaur remains are fragmentary.
The Upper Lias in Germany has also yielded significant pterosaur fossils. India and Arizona, U.S.A. are also sites where Upper Jurassic pterosaur remains have been found.
Dimorphodontidae
| Dimorphodon macronyx | A well preserved species known from several specimens from the Blue Lias of Lyme Regis, Dorset and from Aust Cliff in Gloucestershire. |
Rhamphorhynchinae
| Dorygnathus banthensis | Several specimens are known from the Posidonian Shales and sediments of the Upper Lias in bavaria, Germany. Fragmentary remains are also known from Upper Saxony in Germany. |
| Dorygnathus cf banthensis | Partial skeleton from Nancy, France. |
| Dorygnathus mistelgauensis | Upper Liassic specimen found at Mistelgau near Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany. |
Scaphognathinae
| Parapsicephalus purdoni | A skull from the Upper Lias, Alum Shale of Whitby, Yorkshire, England. This specimen revealed an intact brain cast. |
Campylognathoides
| Campylognathus liassicus | Several well preserved specimens from the Posidonian Shales of Bavaria, Germany. This pterosaur has an average wingspan of 1 metre and in 1986 a complete pelvis was found with hip sockets intact. |
| Campylognathus zitteli | Larger than C. liassicus, this specimen has a wingspan of 1.75 metres. |
| Campylognathus indicus | A fragmentary specimen of a skull with teeth from the Upper Jurassic, Kota Formation in the Chanda District of Deccan, India. |
| Campylognathus sp. | A specimen from the Upper Lias at Schandelah near Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany. |
Uncertain Classification
| Areripedactylus dehmi | A single wing bone from this large pterosaur was found in Brazil. Classification is not possible at present |
| Rhamphinion jenkinsi | A jaw fragment from the Lower Jurassic, Middle Kayenta Formation of the Little Colorado River, Arizona, U.S.A. Indeterminate fragment of an upper jaw. |
Ichnites
| Antipus flexiloquus | Turners Falls Formation, Roswell Fields, Gill, Mass. USA |