Maaradactylus

Maaradactylus is a genus of anhanguerid pterosaur known from the Lower Cretaceous Romualdo Formation of northeastern Brazil.

Maaradactylus is based on Museu Paleontologico de Santana do Cariri specimen MPSC R 2357, a skull, atlas, and axis discovered in 2010 in the Aptian—Albian-age Romualdo Formation of Sítio São Gonçalo, Santana do Cariri, Ceará, in the Araripe Basin of Brazil. This skull, one of the largest anhanguerid skulls from the basin and indicating a wingspan of about six metres, has a relatively tall crest running along the midline of the premaxillary bones, which make up most of the upper beak region, and placements for 35 pairs of teeth in the upper jaws.

Maaradactylus was described by Renan Bantim and colleagues in 2014. The type species is Maaradactylus kellneri. The generic name refers to Maara, in the legends of the Cariri the daughter of a chief, by sorcery changed into a river monster with long teeth, devouring fishermen. The suffix ~dactylus is common in the names of pterosaurs and is derived from Greek δάκτυλος, daktylos, "finger", referring to the long (fourth) wing finger. The specific namehonours Alexander Kellner, Brazil's foremost pterosaur expert.[1]