 Pteranodontia was originally named by Marsh in 1876.In 2003, it was given a phylogenetic definition by David Unwin as the common ancestor of "Pteranodon" and "Nyctosaurus" plus all its descendants.Though Marsh had originally named this group based on the shared absence of teeth in those species, most analyses show that all of the traditional "ornithocheiroid" pterosaurs are also members of this clade.