Parapsicephalus

Parapsicephalus (meaning "beside arch head") is a genus of "rhamphorhynchoid" (long-tailed) pterosaurs from the early Toarcian-age Lower Jurassic Alum Shale of Whitby, Yorkshire, England. It is known from a single partial skull lacking the snout, but including a detailed endocast of the brain.

It was collected in the 1880s by Reverend D.W. Purdon, who is honored in the specific name,[1] and first described by Edwin Tulley Newton, who named it as a species of Scaphognathus, S. purdoni.[2] It was recognized as a distinct genus only decades later in 1919 by Gustav von Arthaber,[3] although in 2003 it was synonymized by David Unwin with Dorygnathus,[4] repeated in a recent popular publication.[5] It has been considered to be a rhamphorhynchid,[6] of medium size (estimated wingspan of ~1 m ~[3.3 ft]),[1] although a more recent estimation suggests it may have had a wingspan of over 2m ,