Direct evidence of successful or failed predation is rare in the fossil record but essential for reconstructing extinct food webs. Here, we report the first evidence of a failed predation attempt by a pterosaur on a soft-bodied coleoid cephalopod. A perfectly preserved, fully grown soft-tissue specimen of the octobrachian coleoid Plesioteuthis subovata is associated with a tooth of the pterosaur Rhamphorhynchus muensteri from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Archipelago. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals the pterosaur tooth is embedded in the now phosphatised cephalopod soft tissue, which makes a chance association highly improbable. According to its morphology, the tooth likely originates from the anterior to middle region of the upper or lower jaw of a large, osteologically mature individual. We propose the tooth became associated with the coleoid when the pterosaur attacked Plesioteuthis at or near the water surface. Thus, Rhamphorhynchus apparently fed on aquatic animals by grabbing prey whilst flying directly above, or floating upon (less likely), the water surface. It remains unclear whether the Plesioteuthis died from the pterosaur attack or survived for some time with the broken tooth lodged in its mantle. Sinking into oxygen depleted waters explains the exceptional soft tissue preservation.

中文翻译：

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翼龙吃了柔和的头足类（Coleoidea）。

化石记录中鲜有成功或失败捕食的直接证据，但对于重建灭绝的食物网至关重要。在这里，我们报告了翼龙对体软的鞘状头足类的捕食尝试失败的第一个证据。十足的十足类鹰嘴类蛇颈类鱼类的完整保存的，完全生长的软组织标本与侏罗纪晚索尔霍芬群岛晚期的翼龙Rhamphorhynchus muensteri的牙齿有关。在紫外线下的检查显示翼龙齿嵌入了现在已磷化的头足类软组织中，这使得偶然性关联变得极不可能。根据其形态，牙齿很可能起源于一个骨学上成熟的大个体的上颌或下颌的前部至中部区域。我们建议当翼龙攻击水面或附近的蛇颈龙时，牙齿与类胚壳相关。因此，Rhamphorhynchus显然是在直接飞过水面或漂浮在水面（不太可能）时抓住猎物捕食水生动物。尚不清楚蛇颈龙是死于翼龙袭击还是死掉了一段时间，而断齿留在了其地幔中。下沉到贫氧水中解释了出色的软组织保存能力。尚不清楚蛇颈龙是死于翼龙袭击还是死掉了一段时间，而断齿留在了其地幔中。下沉到贫氧水中解释了出色的软组织保存能力。尚不清楚蛇颈藻是死于翼龙袭击还是死了一段时间，而断齿仍留在其地幔中。下沉到贫氧水中解释了出色的软组织保存能力。