Archaeopterodactyloidea

Archaeopterodactyloids Temporal range: Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous, 152–105 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N possible Late Cretaceous presence.[1]
Restored skull of the ctenochasmatid Pterodaustro guinazui
Cast of the sub-adult type specimen of Pterodactylus antiquus, an archaeopterodactyloid.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Infraorder:	†Archaeopterodactyloidea Kellner, 1996
Subgroups
†Prejanopterus †Germanodactylidae †Euctenochasmatia Unwin, 2003 †Pterodactylus †Diopecephalus †Ctenochasmatoidea Nopcsa, 1928 †Ardeadactylus †Aurorazhdarcho †Petrodactyle †Ctenochasmatidae †Gallodactylidae

Archaeopterodactyloidea (meaning "ancient Pterodactyloidea") is an extinct clade of pterodactyloid pterosaurs that lived from the middle Late Jurassic to the latest Early Cretaceous periods (Kimmeridgian to Albian stages) of Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.^[2] It was named by Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner in 1996 as the group that contains Germanodactylus, Pterodactylus, the Ctenochasmatidae and the Gallodactylidae.^[3]

The earliest known archaeopterodactyloid remains date to the Late Jurassic Kimmeridgian age. Previously, a fossil jaw recovered from the Middle Jurassic Stonesfield Slate formation in the United Kingdom, was considered the oldest known. This specimen supposedly represented a member of the family Ctenochasmatidae,^[4] though further examination suggested it belonged to a teleosaurid crocodylomorph instead of a pterosaur.^[5] The specimen MN 7801-V from the Campanian of Antarctica was referred to Archaeopterodactyloidea. If this assignment is correct, it would be one of the last-surviving archaeopterodactyloids.^[1]