Several correct and incorrect assignments to Pterodactylus. Click to enlarge. Many of these taxa (specimens) were assigned to the genus Pterodactylus by Wellnhofer (1970) and other authorities before the advent of computer assisted phylogenetic analysis and before most of them were graphically reconstructed and scaled to make comparisons easier. Furthermore, these assignments were made under the false assumption that pterosaurs, like mammals and archosaurus (including crocs and birds) changed as they matured, developing a relatively longer snout and smaller eye. Embryo pterosaurs demonstrate that relatively little changed during maturity, especially in the proportions of the skull.

It's the Little Things That Count - Click to enlarge. Here some of overlooked parts of Pterodactylus antiquus are identified, including the wing ungual, manual digit 5 and ant elongated caudals.

Collini CA 1784. Sur quelques Zoolithes du Cabinet d’Histoire naturelle de S. A. S. E. Palatine & de Bavière, à Mannheim. Acta Theodoro-Palatinae Mannheim 5 Pars Physica, 58–103.

Cuvier G 1801. [Reptile volant]. In: Extrait d’un ouvrage sur les espèces de quadrupèdes dont on a trouvé les ossemens dans l’intérieur de la terre. Journal de Physique, de Chimie et d’Histoire Naturelle 52: 253–267.

Cuvier G 1809. Mémoire sur le squelette fossile d’un reptile volant des environs d’Aichstedt, que quelques naturalistes ont pris pour un oiseau, et dont nous formons un genre de Sauriens, sous le nom de Petro-Dactyle. Annales du Muséum national d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris 13: 424–437.

von Soemmering ST 1812. Über einen Ornithocephalus. Denkschriften der Akademie der Wissenschaften München, Mathematischen-physikalischen Classe 3: 89-158.

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

wiki/Pterodactylus