Ctenochasma elegans (von Meyer 1852, C. elegans Wagner 1861; Bennett 2021; Late Jurassic ~160 mya; SMNS 81803) is one of the larger specimens (see below). Bennett 2021 provided the latest description and reconstructions (gray). Some bones are refigured and reidentified here (color) based on Gnathosaurus (above). Note the laminated layering of several rostral bones, likely for added strength. As in all pterosaurs, no more than four teeth erupt from the premaxilla, contra Bennett 2021. Two basioccipitals are present, not a single median one.

Ctenochasma elegans (von Meyer 1852, C. elegans Wagner 1861; Late Jurassic ~160 mya, skull length ~5 cm) was originally considered a species of Pterodactylus, but that was quickly rectified by Wagner (1861). Here Ctenochasma elegans was derived from a sister to No. 40 and phylogenetically preceded Ctenochasma gracile.

There’s a big question as to what is and what isn’t Ctenochasma (see below). The other question refers to the species. Is P. elegans (the holotype described by Wagner 1861) actually Ctenochasma? Or something else? Evidently the specimen was destroyed in World War II and never illustrated or photographed, so this is a problem.

In any case, what specimens we do know are all adult material and if not adults, morphologically identical to adults. This we know from embryos, like Pterodaustro, that had just as long of a rostrum and as small of an orbit as adults. Specimens with a shorter rostrum were phylogenetically more primitive, as demonstrated below. That's how the long rostrum with so many procumbent teeth evolved.

C. roemeri (the holotype genus described by von Meyer 1852, which I haven't yet seen) was based on a partial mandible that had ~54 slender teeth per side of the jaws. C. elegans/gracile is known from more than a dozen specimens with ~100 teeth per side, ranging in skull length from 3.3 cm up to 20 cm long.

Distinct from No. 40, the skull of Ctenochasma elegans was longer and had smaller teeth. The occiput was essentially beneath the expanded cranium.

The cervicals were elongated and more robust. The dorsals and sacrals were smaller and more gracile.

The scapula was larger. The humerus had a more pronounced posterior tuberosity and was overall more gracile. The metacarpus was longer. The fingers were shorter with reduced unguals.

The pelvis was relatively smaller and shallower. The tibia was longer. The foot was smaller with reduced unguals. The central phalanges were more disc-like.

The dorygnathid tree is here. The pterosaur family tree is here.

Balaenognathus maeuseri (Martill et al. 2023, NKMB P2011, Late Jurassic) is a ctenochasmatid with a wide anterior dentary and vertical teeth.

Bennett SC 1996. Year-classes of pterosaurs from the Solnhofen Limestone of Germany: Taxonomic and Systematic Implications. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 16(3):432-444.

Bennett SC 2007. A review of the pterosaur Ctenochasma: taxonomy and ontogeny. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen, 245(1): 23-31.

Bennett SC 2021. Complete large skull of the pterodactyloid pterosaur Ctenochasma
elegans from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Lithographic Limestones. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen . 301(3):283–294.

Buisonjé de PH 1981. Ctenochasma porocristata nov. sp. from the Solnhofen Limestone, with some remarks on other Ctenochasmatidae. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenchappen, B, 84 (4): 411-436. online

Jouve S 2004. Description of the skull of a Ctenochasma (Pterosauria) from the latest Jurassic of eastern France, with a taxonomic revision of European Tithonian Pterodactyloidea. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 24(3):542-554.

Lü J, Kundrát M, Shen C 2016. New Material of the Pterosaur Gladocephaloideus Lü et al., 2012 from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province, China, with Comments on Its Systematic Position. PLoS ONE 11(6): e0154888. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0154888

Martill DM, Frey E, Tischlinger H, Mäuser M, Riversa-Sylva HE and Vidovic SU 2023. A new pterodactyloid pterosaur with a unique filter-feeding apparatus from the Late Jurassic of Germany. PalZ https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-022-00644-4

von Meyer CEH 1852. Ctenochasma Roemeri. Paläontographica, 2: 82–84 & pl. 13.

Oppel A 1862. Über Fährten im lithographischen Schiefer. Paläontologische Mitteilungen aus dem Museum des Koenigl." Bayrischen Staates, ed. A. Oppel, 1:121–125 & pl. 39. Stuttgart: Ebner & Sembek.

Taquet P 1972. Un crane de Ctenochasma (Pterodactyloidea) du Portlandien infe rieur de la Haute-Marne, dans les collections du Musee de St-Dizier. Comptes Rendus de l’Academie des Sciences, 174: 362–364.

Wagner JA 1861 Charakteristik einer neuen Flugeidechse, Pterodactylus elegans. Sber. k. bayer. Akad. Wiss. math.-phys. Kl. pp. 363–365.

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

paleocritti/Ctenochasma
wiki/Ctenochasma
wiki/Balaenognathus