Vidovic and Martill (2014) proposed that the BSP AS V 29a/b specimen (n15 in the Wellnhofer 1970 catalog) formerly attributed to Pterodactylus scolopaciceps was actually more closely related to the much larger and morphologically distinct taxa, Gladocephaloideus and Cycnorhamphus. Vidovic and Martill gave the BSP AS V 29a/b specimen a new name, “Aerodactylus.“

I tested this hypothesis. In a larger pterosaur cladogram (217 taxa, 185 characters, online link below) the BSP AS V 29a/b specimen is recovered as a sister to Pterodactylus antiquus (BSP AS I 739, n4 in the Wellnhofer 1970 catalog) and another specimen attributed to Pterodactylus scolopaciceps (BSP 1937 I 18, n21 in the Wellnhofer 1970 catalog). So the BSP AS V 29 a/b specimen is just another Pterodactylus, as it was widely considered prior to Vidovic and Martill.

Sister taxa to BSP AS V 29a/b proposed by Vidovic and Martill do not share as many character traits. Moreover, Gladocephaloideus, Cycnorhamphus, Ardeodactylus and Aurorazhdarcho nested at a variety of unrelated nodes in the 217 taxa cladogram. They are not closely related to one another or to Pterodactylus in the competing cladogram.

Vidovic and Martill are also mistaken when they consider small Solnhofen pterosaurs juveniles. All workers agree they are morphologically distinct. However, in cladistic analysis (link below) the sparrow-to-hummingbird-sized Solnhofen pterosaurs nest as transitional taxa following phylogenetic miniaturization and preceding phylogenetic enlargement. In making their traditional assumption, Vidovic and Martill ignore the many examples of verified juvenile pterosaurs that are isometric matches to their parents. The following small specimens of larger taxa do not have a short rostrum and large orbit: Zhejiangopterus (Cai and Wei 1994), Tapejara (Eck et al. 2011), Caiuajara (Manzig et al. 2014), and Pterodaustro (Chinsamy et al. 2008). Thus, no verified juveniles demonstrate allometry during ontogeny. Purported examples of morphologically distinct juveniles are only recovered in statistical analyses (Vidovic and Martill 2014 and references therein), but are falsfied in phylogenetic analysis (link below).

Supporting images and text appear at this blog post:

http://pterosaurheresies....

A supporting MacClade nexus file of 217 pterosaurs and their sister taxa will be sent to all interested parties on request.

References

Cai Z and Wei F 1994. On a new pterosaur (Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis gen. et sp. nov.) from Upper Cretaceous in Linhai, Zhejiang, China.” Vertebrata Palasiatica, 32: 181-194.

Eck K, Elgin RA and Frey E 2011. On the osteology of Tapejara wellnhoferi KELLNER 1989 and the first occurrence of a multiple specimen assemblage from the Santana Formation, Araripe Basin, NE-Brazil. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology, doi:10.1007/s13358-011-0024-5.

Manzig PC et al. 2014. Discovery of a Rare Pterosaur Bone Bed in a Cretaceous Desert with Insights on Ontogeny and Behavior of Flying Reptiles. Plos ONE 9 (8): e100005. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0100005.

Vidovic SU and Martill DM 2014. Pterodactylus scolopaciceps Meyer, 1860 (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from the Upper Jurassic of Bavaria, Germany: The Problem of Cryptic Pterosaur Taxa in Early Ontogeny. PLoS ONE 9(10): e110646. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110646

Wellnhofer P 1970. Die Pterodactyloidea (Pterosauria) der Oberjura-Plattenkalke Süddeutschlands. Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, N.F., Munich 141: 1-133.