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59-504: Dimorphodon ( / d aɪ ˈ m ɔːr f ə d ɒ n / dy- MOR -fə-don ) was a genus of medium-sized pterosaur from Europe during the early Jurassic Period (about 201-191 million years ago). It was named by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1859. Dimorphodon means "two-form tooth", derived from the Greek di- ( δι- ) meaning 'two', morphḗ ( μορφή ) meaning 'shape' and odṓn ( ὀδών ) meaning 'tooth', referring to

118-557: A species : see Botanical name and Specific name (zoology) . The rules for the scientific names of organisms are laid down in the nomenclature codes , which allow each species a single unique name that, for animals (including protists ), plants (also including algae and fungi ) and prokaryotes ( bacteria and archaea ), is Latin and binomial in form; this contrasts with common or vernacular names , which are non-standardized, can be non-unique, and typically also vary by country and language of usage. Except for viruses ,

177-402: A "snap and hold" method of feeding. The jaw could close extremely quickly, but with relatively little force or tooth penetration. This, along with the short and high skull and longer, pointed front teeth suggest that Dimorphodon was an insectivore , though it may have occasionally eaten small vertebrates and carrion as well. Mark Witton has argued that the animal was a specialised carnivore that

236-521: A 1.45 metre (4.6 ft) wingspan . The tail of Dimorphodon was long and consisted of thirty vertebrae. The first five or six were short and flexible, but the remainder gradually increased in length and were stiffened by elongated vertebral processes. The terminal end of the tail may have borne a Rhamphorhynchus -like tail vane, although no impressions have yet been found in Dimorphodon fossils to confirm this speculation. Dimorphodon had

295-415: A home made medication, a soothing salve, that they made and distributed. Elizabeth Philpot befriended Mary Anning when Anning was still a child; despite the almost 20-year age difference and the fact that the working class Anning was from a much poorer background, the two became close and were frequently seen collecting fossils together. Philpot encouraged the young Anning to read about geology and understand

354-405: A large, bulky skull approximately 23 centimetres (9.1 in) in length, whose weight was reduced by large openings separated from each other by thin bony partitions. Its structure, reminiscent of the supporting arches of a bridge, prompted Richard Owen to declare that, as far as achieving great strength from lightweight materials was concerned, no vertebra was more economically constructed; Owen saw

413-651: A later homonym of a validly published name is a nomen illegitimum or nom. illeg. ; for a full list refer to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and the work cited above by Hawksworth, 2010. In place of the "valid taxon" in zoology, the nearest equivalent in botany is " correct name " or "current name" which can, again, differ or change with alternative taxonomic treatments or new information that results in previously accepted genera being combined or split. Prokaryote and virus codes of nomenclature also exist which serve as

472-628: A long time and redescribed as new by a range of subsequent workers, or if a range of genera previously considered separate taxa have subsequently been consolidated into one. For example, the World Register of Marine Species presently lists 8 genus-level synonyms for the sperm whale genus Physeter Linnaeus, 1758, and 13 for the bivalve genus Pecten O.F. Müller, 1776. Within the same kingdom, one generic name can apply to one genus only. However, many names have been assigned (usually unintentionally) to two or more different genera. For example,

531-532: A plesiosaur skull in the possession of "Miss Philpot". In 1834 Buckland arranged for the Swiss palaeontologist Louis Agassiz to visit Lyme to work with Elizabeth Philpot and Anning to obtain and study fish fossils found in the region. They were able to show him fossils of 34 different species, and he was so impressed by the knowledge of Philpot and Anning that he wrote in his journal: "Miss Philpot and Mary Anning have been able to show me with utter certainty which are

590-448: A quadruped. He speculated that the fifth toe supported a membrane between the tail and the legs and that the animal was therefore very ungainly on the ground. However, his rival Harry Govier Seeley , propagating the view that pterosaurs were warm-blooded and active, argued that Dimorphodon was either an agile quadruped or even a running biped due to its relatively well developed hindlimbs and characteristics of its pelvis. This hypothesis

649-409: A reference for designating currently accepted genus names as opposed to others which may be either reduced to synonymy, or, in the case of prokaryotes, relegated to a status of "names without standing in prokaryotic nomenclature". An available (zoological) or validly published (botanical) name that has been historically applied to a genus but is not regarded as the accepted (current/valid) name for

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708-683: A speculative puffin -like 'beak' because of similarities between the two animals' skulls. The first fossil remains now attributed to Dimorphodon were found in England by fossil collector Mary Anning , at Lyme Regis in Dorset, UK in December 1828. This region of Britain is now a World Heritage Site , dubbed the Jurassic Coast ; in it layers of the Blue Lias are exposed, dating from

767-427: A taxon; however, the names published in suppressed works are made unavailable via the relevant Opinion dealing with the work in question. In botany, similar concepts exist but with different labels. The botanical equivalent of zoology's "available name" is a validly published name . An invalidly published name is a nomen invalidum or nom. inval. ; a rejected name is a nomen rejiciendum or nom. rej. ;

826-455: A total of c. 520,000 published names (including synonyms) as at end 2019, increasing at some 2,500 published generic names per year. "Official" registers of taxon names at all ranks, including genera, exist for a few groups only such as viruses and prokaryotes, while for others there are compendia with no "official" standing such as Index Fungorum for fungi, Index Nominum Algarum and AlgaeBase for algae, Index Nominum Genericorum and

885-416: A very small brain-pan and proportionally short wings. The first phalanx in its flight finger is only slightly longer than its lower arm. The neck was short but strong and flexible and may have had a membranous pouch on the underside. The vertebrae had pneumatic foramina, openings through which the air sacs could reach the hollow interior. Dimorphodon had an adult body length of 1 metre (3.3 ft) long, with

944-430: Is best known today for her collaboration and friendship with the well known fossil hunter Mary Anning . She was well known in geological circles for her knowledge of fossil fish as well as her extensive collection of specimens and was consulted by leading geologists and palaeontologists of the time including William Buckland , and Louis Agassiz . When Mary Anning discovered that belemnite fossils contained ink sacs, it

1003-612: Is discouraged by both the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants , there are some five thousand such names in use in more than one kingdom. For instance, A list of generic homonyms (with their authorities), including both available (validly published) and selected unavailable names, has been compiled by the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG). The type genus forms

1062-509: Is larger than D. macronyx and the well preserved foot of it shows that pterosaurs do not have a digitigrade posture in their hindlimbs, but that it have a plantigrade gait, as has been inferred from footprints. The name of the species is a homage to Dr. Robert L. Weintraub. Later studies considered this species not closely related to Dimorphodon macronyx , but an early relative of Anurognathidae . In 1870, Seeley assigned Dimorphodon to its own family, Dimorphodontidae , with Dimorphodon as

1121-403: Is limited. It perhaps mainly inhabited coastal regions and might have had a very varied diet. Buckland suggested it ate insects. Later, it became common to depict it as a piscivore (fish eater), though biomechanical studies support Buckland's original insectivore idea better, and inconsistent with the animal's habits (see flight below). Dimorphodon had an advanced jaw musculature specialized for

1180-460: Is somewhat arbitrary. Although all species within a genus are supposed to be "similar", there are no objective criteria for grouping species into genera. There is much debate among zoologists about whether enormous, species-rich genera should be maintained, as it is extremely difficult to come up with identification keys or even character sets that distinguish all species. Hence, many taxonomists argue in favor of breaking down large genera. For instance,

1239-474: Is the type species , and the generic name is permanently associated with the type specimen of its type species. Should the specimen turn out to be assignable to another genus, the generic name linked to it becomes a junior synonym and the remaining taxa in the former genus need to be reassessed. In zoological usage, taxonomic names, including those of genera, are classified as "available" or "unavailable". Available names are those published in accordance with

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1298-701: The Hettangian - Sinemurian . The specimen was acquired by William Buckland and reported in a meeting of the Geological Society on 5 February 1829. In 1835, after a thorough study by William Clift and William John Broderip , this report, strongly expanded, was published in the Transactions of the Geological Society, describing and naming the fossil as a new species. As was the case with most early pterosaur finds, Buckland classified

1357-621: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ; the earliest such name for any taxon (for example, a genus) should then be selected as the " valid " (i.e., current or accepted) name for the taxon in question. Consequently, there will be more available names than valid names at any point in time; which names are currently in use depending on the judgement of taxonomists in either combining taxa described under multiple names, or splitting taxa which may bring available names previously treated as synonyms back into use. "Unavailable" names in zoology comprise names that either were not published according to

1416-824: The International Plant Names Index for plants in general, and ferns through angiosperms, respectively, and Nomenclator Zoologicus and the Index to Organism Names for zoological names. Totals for both "all names" and estimates for "accepted names" as held in the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG) are broken down further in the publication by Rees et al., 2020 cited above. The accepted names estimates are as follows, broken down by kingdom: The cited ranges of uncertainty arise because IRMNG lists "uncertain" names (not researched therein) in addition to known "accepted" names;

1475-760: The Macronychoptera and within it the sister group of the Caelidracones . This would mean that both dimorphodontid species would be the most basal pterosaurs known with the exception of Preondactylus . According to Alexander Kellner , however, Dimorphodon is far less basal and not a close relative of Peteinosaurus . The cladogram recovered by Andres and Myers in 2013 is reproduced below. Preondactylus buffarinii Austriadactylus cristatus Peteinosaurus zambellii Eudimorphodontidae Dimorphodon macronyx Parapsicephalus purdoni Novialoidea The knowledge of how Dimorphodon lived

1534-404: The platypus belongs to the genus Ornithorhynchus although George Shaw named it Platypus in 1799 (these two names are thus synonyms ) . However, the name Platypus had already been given to a group of ambrosia beetles by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1793. A name that means two different things is a homonym . Since beetles and platypuses are both members of the kingdom Animalia,

1593-627: The Early Jurassic ( Pliensbachian ), where remains of sphenodontians , dinosaurs and mammaliaforms have also been found. It is known from the type specimen, IGM 3494 (Instituto Geológico de México, of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México ), that comprises articulated pieces of the skeleton including the posterior part of skull, four cervical vertebrae, the scapulocoracoids, left humerus, partial right wing and right leg distal to mid tibiotarsus . This specimen

1652-473: The French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708) is considered "the founder of the modern concept of genera". The scientific name (or the scientific epithet) of a genus is also called the generic name ; in modern style guides and science, it is always capitalised. It plays a fundamental role in binomial nomenclature , the system of naming organisms , where it is combined with the scientific name of

1711-692: The London fossil dealer Bryce McMurdo Wright . One of these had been recovered from early Jurassic strata at the south bank of the Severn river, at the Aust Cliff . An additional species of Dimorphodon , D. weintraubi , was named by James Clark et al in 1998 from a partial skeleton recovered in siltstones from the site Huizachal Canyon in La Boca Formation in Tamaulipas , Mexico , from

1770-442: The base for higher taxonomic ranks, such as the family name Canidae ("Canids") based on Canis . However, this does not typically ascend more than one or two levels: the order to which dogs and wolves belong is Carnivora ("Carnivores"). The numbers of either accepted, or all published genus names is not known precisely; Rees et al., 2020 estimate that approximately 310,000 accepted names (valid taxa) may exist, out of

1829-536: The body and its skeleton rather robust, offering very little gliding potential. In life, Dimorphodon probably relied on frantic short flights in the same manner as modern fowl , tinamous and woodpeckers , being unable to fly for long distances and probably only taking to the air as a last resort. Its derived position amidst primitive pterosaurs implies that this ineptitude is a developed trait, not an ancestral characteristic, as earlier pterosaurs like Preondactylus were capable aeronauts. Owen saw Dimorphodon as

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1888-507: The fact that it had two distinct types of teeth in its jaws – which is comparatively rare among reptiles. The diet of Dimorphodon has been questioned among researchers, with earlier interpretations depicting it as an insectivore or a piscivore. Recent studies have suggested that Dimorphodon likely hunted small vertebrates, though it still would have consumed soft invertebrates like insects. The body structure of Dimorphodon displays many "primitive" characteristics, such as, according to Owen,

1947-446: The form "author, year" in zoology, and "standard abbreviated author name" in botany. Thus in the examples above, the genus Canis would be cited in full as " Canis Linnaeus, 1758" (zoological usage), while Hibiscus , also first established by Linnaeus but in 1753, is simply " Hibiscus L." (botanical usage). Each genus should have a designated type , although in practice there is a backlog of older names without one. In zoology, this

2006-737: The generic name (or its abbreviated form) still forms the leading portion of the scientific name, for example, Canis lupus lupus for the Eurasian wolf subspecies, or as a botanical example, Hibiscus arnottianus ssp. immaculatus . Also, as visible in the above examples, the Latinised portions of the scientific names of genera and their included species (and infraspecies, where applicable) are, by convention, written in italics . The scientific names of virus species are descriptive, not binomial in form, and may or may not incorporate an indication of their containing genus; for example,

2065-446: The ichthyodorulites dorsal fins of sharks that correspond to different types." He thanked both women for their help in his monumental book, Studies of Fossil Fish , and he named a fossil fish species, Eugnathus philpotae , after Philpot and another two species after Anning. In 1826 Mary Anning discovered what appeared to be a chamber containing dried ink inside a belemnite fossil. She showed it to her friend Elizabeth Philpot. Philpot

2124-432: The idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: Moreover, genera should be composed of phylogenetic units of the same kind as other (analogous) genera. The term "genus" comes from Latin genus , a noun form cognate with gignere ('to bear; to give birth to'). The Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus popularized its use in his 1753 Species Plantarum , but

2183-633: The largest component, with 23,236 ± 5,379 accepted genus names, of which 20,845 ± 4,494 are angiosperms (superclass Angiospermae). By comparison, the 2018 annual edition of the Catalogue of Life (estimated >90% complete, for extant species in the main) contains currently 175,363 "accepted" genus names for 1,744,204 living and 59,284 extinct species, also including genus names only (no species) for some groups. The number of species in genera varies considerably among taxonomic groups. For instance, among (non-avian) reptiles , which have about 1180 genera,

2242-427: The lizard genus Anolis has been suggested to be broken down into 8 or so different genera which would bring its ~400 species to smaller, more manageable subsets. Elizabeth Philpot Elizabeth Philpot (1779–1857) was an early 19th-century British fossil collector , amateur palaeontologist and artist who collected fossils from the cliffs around Lyme Regis in Dorset on the southern coast of England. She

2301-503: The many putative species assigned to Pterodactylus had become so anatomically diverse that they began to be broken into separate genera. In 1858, Richard Owen reported finding two new specimens, NHMUK PV OR 41212 and NHMUK PV R1035, again partial skeletons but this time including the skulls. Having found the skull to be very different from that of Pterodactylus , Owen assigned Pterodactylus macronyx its own genus, which he named Dimorphodon . His first report contained no description and

2360-403: The most (>300) have only 1 species, ~360 have between 2 and 4 species, 260 have 5–10 species, ~200 have 11–50 species, and only 27 genera have more than 50 species. However, some insect genera such as the bee genera Lasioglossum and Andrena have over 1000 species each. The largest flowering plant genus, Astragalus , contains over 3,000 species. Which species are assigned to a genus

2419-428: The name could not be used for both. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach published the replacement name Ornithorhynchus in 1800. However, a genus in one kingdom is allowed to bear a scientific name that is in use as a generic name (or the name of a taxon in another rank) in a kingdom that is governed by a different nomenclature code. Names with the same form but applying to different taxa are called "homonyms". Although this

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2478-422: The name remained a nomen nudum . In 1859, however, a subsequent publication by Owen provided a description. After several studies highlighting aspects of Dimorphodon ' s anatomy, Owen in 1874 made NHMUK PV R1034 the holotype . Meanwhile, though Dimorphodon is not a very common fossil, other fragmentary specimens were found. Some of these were acquired by Othniel Charles Marsh between 1873 and 1881 from

2537-461: The only member. It was suggested in 1991 by the German paleontologist Peter Wellnhofer that Dimorphodon might be descended from the earlier European pterosaur Peteinosaurus . Later exact cladistic analyses are not in agreement. According to Unwin, Dimorphodon was related to, though probably not a descendant of, Peteinosaurus , both forming the clade Dimorphodontidae, the most basal group of

2596-541: The provisions of the ICZN Code, e.g., incorrect original or subsequent spellings, names published only in a thesis, and generic names published after 1930 with no type species indicated. According to "Glossary" section of the zoological Code, suppressed names (per published "Opinions" of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature) remain available but cannot be used as the valid name for

2655-457: The remains in the genus Pterodactylus , coining the new species Pterodactylus macronyx . The specific name is derived from Greek makros , "large" and onyx , "claw", in reference to the large claws of the hand. The specimen, presently NHMUK PV R1034, consisted of a partial and disarticulated skeleton on a slab, lacking the skull. Buckland in 1835 also assigned a piece of jaw from the collection of Elizabeth Philpot to P. macronyx . Later,

2714-401: The science behind the fossils she collected and sold. The Philpot sisters' extensive and meticulously labelled fossil collection was used for research by many geologists. All three sisters contributed to the collection, but it was Elizabeth Philpot who corresponded with leading geologists like William Buckland , William Conybeare , and Henry De la Beche about the collection. The collection

2773-497: The specific name particular to the wolf. A botanical example would be Hibiscus arnottianus , a particular species of the genus Hibiscus native to Hawaii. The specific name is written in lower-case and may be followed by subspecies names in zoology or a variety of infraspecific names in botany . When the generic name is already known from context, it may be shortened to its initial letter, for example, C. lupus in place of Canis lupus . Where species are further subdivided,

2832-412: The standard format for a species name comprises the generic name, indicating the genus to which the species belongs, followed by the specific epithet, which (within that genus) is unique to the species. For example, the gray wolf 's scientific name is Canis lupus , with Canis ( Latin for 'dog') being the generic name shared by the wolf's close relatives and lupus (Latin for 'wolf') being

2891-411: The study does acknowledge that the possibility of consuming relatively softer invertebrates cannot be excluded entirely. Like many pterosaurs, Dimorphodon has been perceived as a soarer in the past, correlating to historical perceptions of pterosaurs as seabird analogues. However, more recent studies show that the animal was actually a rather poor flyer: its wings are proportionally short in relation to

2950-403: The taxon is termed a synonym ; some authors also include unavailable names in lists of synonyms as well as available names, such as misspellings, names previously published without fulfilling all of the requirements of the relevant nomenclatural code, and rejected or suppressed names. A particular genus name may have zero to many synonyms, the latter case generally if the genus has been known for

3009-576: The values quoted are the mean of "accepted" names alone (all "uncertain" names treated as unaccepted) and "accepted + uncertain" names (all "uncertain" names treated as accepted), with the associated range of uncertainty indicating these two extremes. Within Animalia, the largest phylum is Arthropoda , with 151,697 ± 33,160 accepted genus names, of which 114,387 ± 27,654 are insects (class Insecta). Within Plantae, Tracheophyta (vascular plants) make up

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3068-404: The vertebrate skull as a combination of four vertebrae modified from the ideal type of the vertebra. The front of the upper jaw had four or five fang-like teeth followed by an indeterminate number of smaller teeth; the maxilla of all exemplars is damaged at the back. The lower jaw had five longer teeth and thirty to forty tiny, flattened pointed teeth, shaped like lancets. Many depictions give it

3127-429: The virus species " Salmonid herpesvirus 1 ", " Salmonid herpesvirus 2 " and " Salmonid herpesvirus 3 " are all within the genus Salmonivirus ; however, the genus to which the species with the formal names " Everglades virus " and " Ross River virus " are assigned is Alphavirus . As with scientific names at other ranks, in all groups other than viruses, names of genera may be cited with their authorities, typically in

3186-531: Was Philpot who discovered that the fossilised ink could be revivified with water and used for illustrations, which became a common practice for local artists. Born on 5 July 1779 ( ), Elizabeth Philpot and her sisters Mary and Margaret moved to Lyme from London in 1805. They shared a house purchased for them by their brother, a London lawyer. They lived in Lyme for the rest of their lives. The Philpots became well known locally for their fossil collecting, as well as for

3245-522: Was a competent climber, possessing proportionally large and curved ungals and a low center of gravity. Like modern squirrels, it probably moved in a saltatorial manner as it climbed. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Genus The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists . The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including

3304-538: Was able to revivify the ink by mixing it with water and used it to illustrate some of her own ichthyosaur fossils, and other local artists were soon doing the same as more such fossilised ink chambers were discovered. The Philpot sisters' important fossil collection ended up at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History . The Lyme Regis Philpot Museum was built in Lyme Regis in honour of

3363-545: Was revived by Kevin Padian in 1983. However, fossilised track remains of other pterosaurs ( ichnites ) show a quadrupedal gait while on the ground and these traces are all attributed to derived pterosaurs with a short fifth toe. Dimorphodon 's was elongated, clawless, and oriented to the side. David Unwin has therefore argued that even Dimorphodon was a quadruped, a view confirmed by computer modelling by Sarah Sangster . Like most non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs, Dimorphodon

3422-424: Was too large for an insectivorous diet, though he did acknowledge that it still might have ate large insects, and thus specialised to hunt relatively small vertebrates, with its relatively weak jaw musculature indicating that it probably ate proportionally small prey. Dental microwear examinations confirm its status as a vertebrate predator, as opposed to several other insectivore or piscivore early pterosaurs, though

3481-432: Was well known for its fossil fish. It also contained the fossil teeth that William Buckland combined with a famous partial skeleton discovered by Mary Anning when he described the pterosaur Pterodactylus macronyx (later renamed by Richard Owen to Dimorphodon macronyx ), in 1829. In his famous 1824 paper that described the almost complete plesiosaur skeleton discovered by Anning in 1823 Conybeare mentioned examining

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