Parapsicephalus purdoni

Parapsicephalus is a genus of long-tailed rhamphorhynchid pterosaurs from the Lower Jurassic Whitby, Yorkshire, England. It contains a single species, P. purdoni, named initially as a species of the related rhamphorhynchid Scaphognathus in 1888 but moved to its own genus in 1919 on account of a unique combination of characteristics. In particular, the top surface of the skull of Parapsicephalus is convex, which is otherwise only seen in dimorphodontians. This has been the basis of its referral to the Dimorphodontia by some researchers, but it is generally agreed upon that Parapsicephalus probably represents a rhamphorhynchid. Within the Rhamphorhynchidae, Parapsicephalus has been synonymized with the roughly contemporary Dorygnathus; this, however, is not likely given the many differences between the two taxa, including the aforementioned convex top surface of the skull. Parapsicephalus has been tentatively referred to the Rhamphorhynchinae subgrouping of rhamphorhynchids, but it may represent a basal member of the group instead.

Parapsicephalus purdoni

Smokeybjb · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ParapsicephalusPBDB
Diet
piscivorePBDB, for Pterosauria
Life habit
volantPBDB, for Pterosauria
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Pterosauria

Time the record covers

At most 1.3 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 184.2 Mya and 182.9 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Early Jurassic — about 2 of 2 occurrencesEarly Jurassic184–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–183 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences183–183 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences183–183 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences183–183 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences183–183 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences183–183 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences183–183 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences183–183 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences183–183 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184.7 Mya182.4 Mya

2 occurrences of Parapsicephalus purdoni on record, most of them in the Early Jurassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

2 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

2 formations

Alum Shale — 54.55°N, 0.88°WWhitby Mudstone — 54.48°N, 0.58°W

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The named rock units Parapsicephalus purdoni has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Parapsicephalus purdoni and its relatives

Early Jurassic

Where Parapsicephalus purdoni and its relatives were recorded in the Early Jurassic.

Found in the same rock

2 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 2 sites for Parapsicephalus purdoni, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

2 references

Each of the 2 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Parapsicephalus purdoni

Credit
Smokeybjb
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Parapsicephalus purdoni was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itParapsicephalus through timeFormations of the Early JurassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Newton 1888)