Archaeopterodactyloidea

Archaeopterodactyloids; Temporal range: ; Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous,
	Restored skull of the ctenochasmatid Pterodaustro guinazui
	Cast of the sub-adult type specimen of Pterodactylus antiquus, an archaeopterodactyloid.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Infraorder:	†Archaeopterodactyloidea; Kellner, 1996
Subgroups
	†Prejanopterus?; †Germanodactylidae?; †Euctenochasmatia Unwin, 2003 †Diopecephalus?; †Pterodactylus; †Ctenochasmatoidea Nopcsa, 1928 †Ardeadactylus; †Aurorazhdarcho; †Petrodactyle; †Ctenochasmatidae; †Gallodactylidae; ; ;

Archaeopterodactyloidea (meaning "ancient Pterodactyloidea") is an extinct clade of pterodactyloid pterosaurs that lived from the middle Late Jurassic to the latest Early Cretaceous periods (Kimmeridgian to Albian stages) of Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. It was named by Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner in 1996 as the group that contains Germanodactylus, Pterodactylus, the Ctenochasmatidae and the Gallodactylidae. Some researchers dispute the relationship of Germanodactylus to other members of the group, and instead use the terms Euctenochasmatia or Ctenochasmatoidea to describe the lineage of Pterodactylus, gallodactylids, and ctenochasmatids.

The earliest known archaeopterodactyloid remains date to the Late Jurassic Kimmeridgian age. Previously, a fossil jaw recovered from the Middle Jurassic Stonesfield Slate formation in the United Kingdom, was considered the oldest known. This specimen supposedly represented a member of the family Ctenochasmatidae, though further examination suggested it belonged to a teleosaurid crocodylomorph instead of a pterosaur.