The Problem With Ornithocheirus

The Ornithocheiridae are a group of large pterosaur fossils from the Cretaceous. They represent several distinct species and most are known only from fragmentary remains of jaws or bone joints. In many cases it is not clear which bones belong to which jaws.
In the late 1800's, this group of pterosaurs was represented mainly by remains in the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge and the British Museum of Natural History (Now the Natural History Museum, London). The classification was a dumping bin for any pterosaur material from the Cretaceous that were not easily placed in an existing structural hierarchy. Many of the specimens were attributed to the work of Richard Owen or Harry Seeley.

This problem arose from specimens collected from the Cambridge Greensand. The specimens were deposited within the Greensand from elsewhere, perhaps from moving sediments or as fossils eroded from other rocks and re-deposited. In many cases, the age and location of the original deposition is unknown.
It has long been accepted that the Ornithosaur fossils represent a wide range of species that may well be unrelated. With little evidence of accociations, the work to sort the fossils out has not been done. Some time ago, David Unwin made a brave attempt at sorting out the problem and was successful in pulling some specimens out of the Ornithcheirus group, but with limited evidence, the problem will not be resolved easily.
Above is a sketch of a lower jaw fragment of Ornithocheirus fittoni, showing the staggered tooth pattern which is unusual amongst pterosaurs
Ornithocheirus sedgwickii shows a very different tooth pattern on its lower jaw. It may be that these specimens have enough similarities to place them in the same family group. If more was known about the rest of the skeletal remains, then a clearer perception would lead to a better conclusion. There are many more Ornithocheirids. Should they remain associated until such a time as there is more available fossil evidence. I personally do not have a problem with the idea of a dumping bin for odd bits and peices of remains. Science is full of problems and grey areas, so some means of containing these problems within a classification system is not a bad thing. The process often works well when a new specimen is found. You can take a look in the dumping bin from time to time and see if anything starts to look familiar.

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