Ikrandraco Wang et al., 2014

Averianov, A. O., 2020, Taxonomy of the Lonchodectidae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea), Proceedings of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences 324 (1), pp. 41-55 : 47-49

Ikrandraco Wang et al., 2014

Ikrandraco : Wang et al. 2014: 1.

Type species. Ikrandraco avatar Wang et al., 2014 .

Diagnosis. Differs from Lonchodraco Rodrigues et Kellner, 2013 by lack of premaxillary crest and less densely spaced teeth (3.8–4.5 per 3 cm).

Included species. Type species and I. machaerorhynchus ( Seeley, 1870) comb. nov.

Comments. Ikrandraco is included in the Lonchodectidae because it possesses three characters diagnostic for this group: the palate has a midline ridge and small alveoli in the anterior part of the upper and lower jaws (up to 4 mm in diameter), without a significant variation in size. The presence of an elevated alveolar margin of upper and lower jaws cannot be established for I. avatar because of its flattened preservation.

Currently, Ikrandraco cannot be reliably distinguished from Lonchodectes Hooley, 1914 . The latter taxon has somewhat more widely spaced teeth (about 3.3 teeth per 3 cm). Another potential difference is a greater transverse flattening of the rostrum in Lonchodectes . This character cannot be evaluated in Ikrandraco because of its flattened preservation. For this reason, it cannot be excluded that Ikrandraco Wang et al., 2014 is a junior subjective synonym of Lonchodectes Hooley, 1914 . Both taxa are currently retained as valid because of incomplete knowledge of Lonchodectes .

Some characters cited in the original diagnosis of Ikrandraco cannot be checked in other lonchodectid taxa (slightly arched dorsal margin of the skull above the nasoantorbital fenestrae; lateral depression on the nasal; strongly inclined quadrate (150°); median hook-like process on the posterior edge of the mandibular crest; two well-developed pneumatic foramina piercing the lateral surface of the axis; a ventral pneumatic foramen on the proximal portion of the second and third wing phalanges). At least some of these characters could be diagnostic for the Lonchodectidae . A very low skull is likely present also in Lonchodectes compressirostris and Ikrandraco machaerorhynchus . These two taxa also share with I. avatar the lack of the premaxillary crest. A deep mandibular crest is also present in Lonchodraco giganteus and I. machaerorhynchus .

The humerus of the holotype of I. avatar was described as having “a warped deltopectoral crest, with the proximal margin rounded” ( Wang et al. 2014: 3). However, the rounded margin of the deltopectoral crest is anterior, not proximal. This crest is undoubtedly not “warped” as in ornithocheirid pterosaurs.

In the original description, Ikrandraco was referred to as Pteranodontia incertae sedis ( Wang et al. 2014). The phylogenetic analysis performed in that paper does not include any lonchodectid taxon. In the analysis by Zhou et al. (2019), Ikrandraco avatar is the sister taxon to Lonchodraco giganteus .