Pterodactyloidea Pterodactyloidea Pterodactyloidea (derived from the Greek words "πτερόν" ("pterón", for usual "ptéryx") "wing", and "δάκτυλος" ("dáctylos") "finger" meaning "winged finger", "wing-finger" or "finger-wing") is one of the two traditional suborders of pterosaurs ("wing lizards"), and contains the most derived members of this group of flying reptiles. They appeared during the middle Jurassic Period, and differ from the basal (though paraphyletic) rhamphorhynchoids by their short tails and long wing metacarpals (hand bones). The most advanced forms also lack teeth, and by the late Cretaceous, all known pterodactyloids were toothless. Many species had well developed crests on the skull, a form of
Upper Jurassic deposits of Gorodishchi and Cretaceous fossils. The layers consistently leaning against each other contain valuable information about evolution between the two geological periods: Jurassic and Cretaceous. Upper Jurassic deposits of Gorodishchi The Exposed Upper Jurassic deposits () near the village of Gorodischi, Ulyanovsk Oblast on the right bank of Kuybyshev Reservoir is one of the protected areas of Ulyanovsk Oblast. The Gorodishchi exposure is within the Ulyanovsk paleontology zakaznik. It is scientifically valuable as a basal section Upper Jurassic adjournment on Russian Platform. Many fossils have been recovered from it, including vertebrae of ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, and mollusc shells. The Cambrian deposits are