Tupuxuara is a genus of thalassodromid pterosaur that lived during the Albian age of the Early Cretaceous, about 112 million years ago.

It was initially assigned to the family Tapejaridae, grouped with the closely related Thalassodromeus in a subfamily called Thalassodrominae.

More recently, studies that support a tapejarid identity for Tupuxuara have also favored the denomination Thalassodromidae to have consistency, which would effectively remove the group from Tapejaridae.

Tupuxuara was named and described by Brazilian paleontologists Alexander Kellner and Diógenes de Almeida Campos in 1988.

The holotype specimen is MN 6592-V, a fragmentary skull with a more rounded crest than the type species T. longicristatus.

The name is a tribute to the song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd, one of Witton's favorite bands.

[4] A 2023 study by Brazilian paleontologist Gabriela Cerqueira and colleagues also classified T. deliradamus as a nomen dubium.

It was recovered as an indeterminate member of the subfamily Tapejarinae and as the sister taxon of the species Caupedactylus ybaka, effectively removing it from the genus Tupuxuara.

The most distinguishing characteristic of Tupuxuara is the large crest that it possessed, which protruded from the back portion its head and originated from its snout.

[2] Tupuxuara was initially assigned to the family Tapejaridae in its description by Kellner, closely related to the pterosaur Tapejara.

[2] Within Tapejaridae, its closest relative was Thalassodromeus, indicated by their bony crest, a characteristic only shared by them in the family.

[6][7] In 2007, Kellner and Campos divided Tapejaridae into the subfamilies Tapejarinae and Thalassodrominae, with Tupuxuara being a member of the latter, alongside Thalassodromeus.

A new group had been named in 2003 by paleontologist David Unwin, the Neoazhdarchia, containing Tupuxuara and the family Azhdarchidae.

[15][16] Later, in a study by Chinese paleontologist Lü Junchang and colleagues in 2008, the name "Tupuxuaridae" would be used to include Tupuxuara and Thalassodromeus.

In their analysis, they supported a close relationship between the thalassodromids and the family Tapejaridae, following the classification model established by Kellner.

Both Thalassodromidae and Tapejaridae would form the larger group Tapejaromorpha (defined as the most inclusive clade containing Tapejara wellnhoferi but not Azhdarcho lancicollis).

It has once been suggested that Tupuxuara had a piscivorous (a fish-based) diet, preying in the coasts of modern day South America, while some deviant hypotheses even include the possibility that it was a fruit eater.