Iberodactylus: a crested pterosaur from Early Cretaceous Spain

Iberodactylus andreui is a large Early Cretaceous pterosaur from Teruel, Spain, known from a fragment of the front upper jaw. The type specimen, MPZ-2014/1, preserves tooth sockets and the base of a ridged cranial crest, but no wing bones. Researchers named the genus in 2019 and placed it with the Chinese pterosaur Hamipterus in Hamipteridae. The pterosaur catalogue records why a roughly four-metre wingspan is an estimate from comparison rather than a direct measurement.

Quick facts

Discovery and naming

The fossil was found near Obón in Teruel, north-eastern Spain, in the late 1980s by Javier Andreu. It entered the collection of the University of Zaragoza as MPZ-2014/1 and was formally described as Iberodactylus andreui by Rodrigo Holgado and colleagues in 2019. The genus name refers to Iberia; the species honours its discoverer.

The specimen comes from the Blesa Formation, dated to the Barremian of the Early Cretaceous. Its remains are limited to about 20 centimetres of the anterior upper jaw. The preserved portion carries alveoli, the bony sockets for teeth, and the base of a cranial crest with a ridged surface. Those details make the fossil identifiable, but do not provide a complete skull or a direct body-size measurement.

Evidence for Hamipteridae

The combination of jaw form, tooth sockets and crest-base anatomy was compared with Hamipterus, a better represented pterosaur from China. Holgado and colleagues identified shared features supporting a family-level relationship and named Hamipteridae for the group. Comparisons with other toothed pterosaurs, including Caulkicephalus, help show why similar snouts are evaluated through several characters rather than a single tooth or crest.

Hamipteridae is a phylogenetic proposal built from coded anatomical features. Because Iberodactylus is represented by a small part of the skull, its placement is less comprehensively testable than that of taxa with more complete skeletons. The family link is the best-supported interpretation of the described traits, while details of its closer relationships may change with additional fossils.

How large was Iberodactylus?

Published wingspan estimates range from about 3.75 to 4.04 metres. The type specimen has no wing bones, so researchers scaled the estimate from proportions in Hamipterus. This approach provides a comparative range, not a measured span for MPZ-2014/1. It assumes that the related animals had sufficiently similar skull-to-wing proportions. If those proportions differed, the estimate would shift.

Artists often show Iberodactylus as a large crested flyer. The jaw fragment supports a tooth-bearing snout and the base of a crest, but not its complete outline, covering or colour. No postcranial bones establish the exact wing shape, body mass or flight performance.

Feeding and open questions

Tooth sockets show that the animal had teeth, and its relationship to Hamipterus has encouraged hypotheses about catching fish. Yet there are no preserved prey remains or gut contents for Iberodactylus. A fish-eating interpretation is plausible by comparison, not directly demonstrated. The fossil also cannot reveal whether the crest served display, recognition or another function.

The secure record is a Barremian pterosaur from Spain, identified from the front upper jaw and crest base and classified within Hamipteridae. Its wingspan, whole-body anatomy and ecology remain estimates or questions because the name-bearing specimen is so incomplete.