20世纪80年代,德国慕尼黑的巴伐利亚收藏古生物学与历史地理学博物馆(Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie)从巴西化石商人手中得到一个翼龙颅骨,其可能是从巴西塞阿拉州阿勒莱皮盆地(查帕达杜阿勒莱皮(英语:Chapada do Araripe))一处称作桑塔纳群(英语:Santana Group)的地质单元中发现的。[3]彼得·韦尔恩霍费尔(英语:Peter Wellnhofer)(Peter Wellnhofer)于1987年将其命名并描述为模式种南方脊颌翼龙(Tropeognathus mesembrinus)。属名取自τρόπις/tropis(龙骨)及γνάθος/gnathos(颚)。种名取自通用希腊语mesembrinos(正午的,引申为“南方的”),指化石出土于南半球。[3]
英国广播公司(BBC)获奖电视节目《与恐龙同行》有一整集的主题都是南方脊颌翼龙(其中将脊颌翼龙冠以近亲鸟掌翼龙之名,并误称为南方鸟掌翼龙)。[14]该系列的配套书籍《与恐龙同行:自然史》(Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History)中声称巴西桑塔纳群(书中称为桑塔纳组)的几块硕大骨头碎片表明,南方鸟掌翼龙翼展可能长达将近12米(39英尺)、重100公斤(220英磅), 使之成为已知最大的翼龙之一。[25]然而,当时描述的南方鸟掌翼龙最大已确认标本翼展测为6米(20英尺)。[8]节目制作人用以证明庞大体型估计的标本于2012年被描述,在《与恐龙同行》制作期间,大卫·马提尔与大卫·安文正在研究这些标本。遗骸最终描述中估计这个巨型标本的最大翼展为8.70米(28.5英尺)。安文表示,他不相信BBC使用的更高估计值是可能的,制片方貌似选择了可能的最高估计值因为它更“壮观”。[26]然而,2013年发现的标本MN 6594-V从完整程度上讲是已知最大的翼龙个体。[1]
^ 1.01.11.21.31.4Kellner, A. W. A.; Campos, D. A.; Sayão, J. M.; Saraiva, A. N. A. F.; Rodrigues, T.; Oliveira, G.; Cruz, L. A.; Costa, F. R.; Silva, H. P.; Ferreira, J. S. The largest flying reptile from Gondwana: A new specimen of Tropeognathus cf. T. Mesembrinus Wellnhofer, 1987 (Pterodactyloidea, Anhangueridae) and other large pterosaurs from the Romualdo Formation, Lower Cretaceous, Brazil. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 2013, 85 (1): 113–135. PMID 23538956. doi:10.1590/S0001-37652013000100009.
^ 3.03.13.23.3Wellnhofer, Peter. New crested pterosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil. Mitteilungen der Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie. 1987, 27: 175–186.
^Leonardi, G.; Borgomanero, G. Cearadactylus atrox nov. gen., nov. sp.: novo Pterosauria (Pterodactyloidea) da Chapada do Araripe, Ceara, Brasil. Resumos dos communicaçoes VIII Congresso bras. de Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 1985, 27: 75–80.
^Fastnacht, M. First record of Coloborhynchus (Pterosauria) from the Santana Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Chapada do Araripe of Brazil. Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 2001, 75: 23–36. S2CID 128410270. doi:10.1007/bf03022595.
^Unwin, D.M. An overview of the pterosaur assemblage from the Cambridge Greensand (Cretaceous) of Eastern England. Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe. 2001, 4: 189–221.
^Martill, D.M.; Unwin, D.M. The world's largest toothed pterosaur, NHMUK R481, an incomplete rostrum of Coloborhynchus capito (Seeley 1870) from the Cambridge Greensand of England. Cretaceous Research. 2011. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2011.09.003.
^Kellner, A.W.A.; Tomida, Y. Description of a new species of Anhanguera (Pterodactyloidea) with comments on the pterosaur fauna from the Santana Formation (Aptian–Albian), northeastern Brazil. Tokyo, National Science Museum (National Science Museum Monographs, 17). 2000.
^Holgado, Borja; Pêgas, Rodrigo V.; Canudo, José Ignacio; Fortuny, Josep; Rodrigues, Taissa; Company, Julio; Kellner, Alexander W. A. On a new crested pterodactyloid from the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula and the radiation of the clade Anhangueria. Scientific Reports. 2019, 9: 4940. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41280-4.
^Pêgas, R.V.; Holgado, B.; Leal, M.E.C. Targaryendraco wiedenrothi gen. nov. (Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontoidea, Lanceodontia) and recognition of a new cosmopolitan lineage of Cretaceous toothed pterodactyloids. Historical Biology. 2019: 1–15. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1690482.
^ 23.023.1Holgado, B.; Pêgas, R.V. A taxonomic and phylogenetic review of the anhanguerid pterosaur group Coloborhynchinae and the new clade Tropeognathinae. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 2020, 65. doi:10.4202/app.00751.2020.