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Ornithocheirus
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<p><i>Ornithocheirus</i> (from <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek/LIK7NlUh">Ancient Greek</a> "ὄρνις", meaning bird, and "χεῖρ", meaning hand) is a <a href="/facts/Pterosaur/YNQwa1ru">pterosaur</a> <a href="/facts/Genus/m8EFjSms">genus</a> known from fragmentary fossil remains uncovered from sediments in the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom</a> and possibly <a href="/facts/Morocco/6ly8170M">Morocco</a>. </p><p>Several species have been referred to the genus, most of which are now considered as dubious species, or members of different genera, and the genus is now often considered to include only the <a href="/facts/Type_species/kL03T6V4">type species</a>, <i>Ornithocheirus simus</i>. Species have been referred to <i>Ornithocheirus</i> from the mid-<a href="/facts/Cretaceous/nwKtFtKx">Cretaceous</a> period of <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a>, <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a> and <a href="/facts/South_America/PhrFEMk7">South America</a>, but <i>O. simus</i> is known mostly from the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom</a>, though a specimen referred to <i>O.</i> cf. <i>simus</i> is also known from the <a href="/facts/Late_Cretaceous/pcHa4fBg">Late Cretaceous</a> <a href="/facts/Kem_Kem_Group/fGxXmQ3x">Kem Kem Group</a> of <a href="/facts/Morocco/6ly8170M">Morocco</a>. </p><p>Because <i>O. simus</i> was originally named based on poorly preserved fossil material, the genus <i>Ornithocheirus</i> has suffered enduring problems of <a href="/facts/Zoological_nomenclature/Pxg8gsqf">zoological nomenclature</a>. </p><p>Fossil remains of <i>Ornithocheirus</i> have been recovered mainly from the <a href="/facts/Cambridge_Greensand/WTPBQ06k">Cambridge Greensand</a> of <a href="/facts/England/U9mE5bGL">England</a>, dating to the beginning of the <a href="/facts/Albian/faHcmHDC">Albian</a> stage of the early Cretaceous period, about 110 million years ago. Additional fossils from the <a href="/facts/Santana_Formation/N4CzHv53">Santana Formation</a> of <a href="/facts/Brazil/QHkG46GL">Brazil</a> are sometimes classified as species of <i>Ornithocheirus</i>, but have also been placed in their own genera, most notably <i><a href="/facts/Tropeognathus/RLmDwmrA">Tropeognathus</a></i>. </p>