This list of informally named pterosaurs is a list of
pterosaurs that have not been formally published. This can include
unavailable names that have not been published under a valid name. The following types of invalid names are present:
Nomen nudum, Latin "naked name": names which have been included in print, yet not properly published according to the standards set by the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. The plural form, nomina nudia are not considered valid, and are not italicized as valid names are.
Nomen manuscriptum, Latin "manuscript name": A name which has appeared in a manuscript that has not been published, but intends to be. They are equivalent to nomen nudum, except for the method of publication and description.
Informal nicknames assigned by the press or researchers.
"Pricesaurus megalodon" ("
Llewellyn Ivor Price lizard") is a nomen nudum based on remains currently assigned to Anhanguera. The remains were first brought up in a lecture by Rafael Gioia Martins-Neto in 1986. He notes several distinct features, but further research proved that all noted features are non-diagnostic and the taxon was ruled invalid due to improper naming conventions.[1]
R
Rhamphodactylus
"Rhamphodactylus" is a nickname given to fossils of what is likely a
basally-branching
pterodactyloid from the
Mörnsheim Formation by Oliver Rauhut in 2012. The name references the mosaic of features that seem to recall both
Rhamphorhynchoidea and
Pterodactyloidea. The preserved skull bones are especially similar to Pterodactylus, the tail is similar to rhamphorhynchoids but also Darwinopterus, the shoulder and arm bones are similar to Rhamphorhynchus, and the metacarpal is almost exactly intermediate the two major clades. While the fossil material has been recognized as likely belonging to a new taxon, a proper
description has not been published.[2] Some publications have used the nickname "Rhamphodactylus" in reference to this important fossil, even including it in
phylogenetic analyses, which have recovered it as a basal pterodactyloid within
Monofenestrata.[3][4] A similar fossil, also with mosaic "transitional" features is known from the
Painten Formation of Germany.[5]
S
Saraikisaurus
"Saraikisaurus" ("
Saraiki lizard") is a nomen manuscriptum based on a dentary (MSM-157-16) found in the
Late Cretaceous (
Maastrichtian)-aged
Pab Formation or
Vitakri Formation of
Pakistan. The name was proposed by Sadiq Malkani in a conference in 2013[6] and was described in 2015 but the paper was not
peer-reviewed.[7] The intended binomial is "S. minnhui" and it was probably a basal
pterodactyloid, although Malkani created further classification (Saraikisauridae, Saraikisaurinae) but both the family and subfamily Malkani assigned to it are monotypic, containing only "Saraikisaurus" itself.
Satsuma-yokuryu
"Satsuma-yokuryu" (
薩摩翼竜, "Satsuma (old name of Kagoshima) pterosaur") is a nickname given to fossil of partial limb bone of pterosaur described from
CenomanianGoshoura Group,
Shishijima Island,
Kagoshima Prefecture in
Japan.[8] Nearby site also produced fossils of plesiosaur, "
Satsuma-utsunomiya-ryu".[9] This specimen was first discovered by
Satoshi Utsunomiya during TV program, he and Yasuhisa Nakajima analyzed material and found to be a part of limb bone.[10][11] Its wingspan would be around 4 meters (13 ft).[8]
^Malkhani, S. (2013). 9th International Symposium on the Cretaceous System, September 1–5, Metu Congress Center, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey - At: Metu Congress Center, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. Volume: Abstract volume
^Malkhani, S. (2015). New pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous Terrestrial Strata of Pakistan.