real differences between these three groups of specimens, they had not provided any rationale that the differences were enough to distinguish them as species, rather than just individual variation, growth changes, or simply due to crushing and distortion during the fossilization process. Bennett pointed in particular to the data used to distinguish Aerodactylus, which was so different from the data for related species, it might be due to an unnatural assemblage of specimens. As a result, Bennett continued to consider Diopecephalus and Aerodactylus simply as year-classes of immature Pterodactylus antiquus. List of species During its over-200-year history, the various species of Pterodactylus have gone through a number of changes in classification and thus have acquired a large number of synonyms. Additionally, a number of species assigned to Pterodactylus are based on poor remains that have proven difficult to assign to one species or another and are therefore considered (). The following list includes names that were used to identify new pterosaur species that now have been reclassified, or until recently thought to be pertaining to Pterodactylus proper, and names based on other material that has as yet not been assigned to other genera. This list also includes species that are ('naked names'), which are species that were not published formally. Species that are ('forgotten names') are the ones that have been disused, and species that are ('rejected names') are the ones that have been rejected because a more preferable name had been accepted instead. {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Name ! Author ! Year ! Status ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- |Pterodactylus antiquus |(Sömmerring) |(1812) |Valid |Designated as the type species of Pterodactylus, and replacing Ornithocephalus antiquus due to being an obsolete name |- |Pterodactylus "suevicus" |Oken |1816 |Nomen nudum | |- |Pterodactylus brevirostris |(Sömmerring) |(1817) |Synonym of Ctenochasma elegans |Reclassified from Ornithocephalus brevirostris |- |Pterodactylus giganteus |(Oken) |(1819) |Nomen dubium |Synonym of Rhamphorhynchus muensteri; reclassified from Ornithocephalus giganteus |- |Pterodactylus longirostris |Cuvier |1819 |Synonym of Pterodactylus antiquus | |- |Pterodactylus grandis |Cuvier |1824 |Nomen dubium |Synonym of Rhamphorhynchus muensteri |- |Pterodactylus crocodilocephaloides |Ritgen |1826 |Synonym of Pterodactylus antiquus | |- |Pterodactylus nettecephaloides |Ritgen |1826 |Nomen oblitum |Synonym of Aurorazhdarcho micronyx |- |Pterodactylus macronyx |Buckland |1829 |Reclassified as Dimorphodon macronyx | |- |Pterodactylus (Rhamphorhynchus) macronyx |(Buckland) |(1829) |Synonym of Dimorphodon macronyx |Reclassified from Dimorphodon macronyx |- |Pterodactylus banthensis |(Theodori) |(1830) |Reclassified as Dorygnathus banthensis |Reclassified from Ornithocephalus banthensis |- |Pterodactylus