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Anurognathidae
Anurognathidae is a family (biology), family of small, short-tailed pterosaurs that lived in Europe, Asia, and possibly North America during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Five genera are known: ''Anurognathus'', from the Late Jurassic of Germany; ''Jeholopterus'', from the Middle Jurassic, Middle to Late Jurassic of China; ''Dendrorhynchoides'', from the Middle Jurassic of China; ''Batrachognathus'', from the Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan; and ''Vesperopterylus'', from the Early Cretaceous of China. Bennett (2007) suggested that the holotype of ''Mesadactylus'', Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology, BYU 2024, a synsacrum, belonged to an anurognathid, though this affinity has been questioned by other authors. ''Mesadactylus'' is from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of the United States. Indeterminate anurognathid remains have also been reported from the Middle Jurassic Bakhar Svita of Mongolia and the Early Cretaceous of North Korea. Classification A family A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pterosaurs
Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger. There were two major types of pterosaurs. Basal pterosaurs (also called 'non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs' or 'rhamphorhynchoids') were smaller animals with fully toothed jaws and, typically, long tails. Their wide wing membranes probably included and connected the hind legs. On the ground, they would have had an awkward sprawling posture, but the anatomy of their joints and strong claws would have made them effective climbers, and some may have even lived in trees. Basal pterosaurs were insectiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dendrorhynchoides
''Dendrorhynchoides'' was a genus of anurognathid pterosaur containing only the holotype species ''D. curvidentatus'' that is known from the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of Qinglong, northern Hebei Province, China. The genus was first named '' Dendrorhynchus'' in 1998 by Ji Shu'an and Ji Qiang, but that name proved to be preoccupied by a parasitic protozoan named in 1920 by David Keilin. It was therefore renamed in 1999. The type species is ''Dendrorhynchoides curvidentatus''. The genus name is derived from Greek ''dendron'', "tree" and ''rhynkhos'', "snout" in reference to it being assumed a tree-dweller and presumed a close relative of ''Rhamphorhynchus''. The specific name means "curved-toothed" in Latin. A second species, ''D. mutoudengensis'', was described in 2012, and moved to a new genus ''Luopterus'' in 2020. Discovery and naming The genus is based on holotype GMV2128, a fossil originally discovered around 1995 and obtained by science from illegal fossil deale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cascocauda
''Cascocauda'' (meaning "ancient tail") is an extinct genus of anurognathid pterosaur from the Late– Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of Hebei Province, China. The genus contains a single species, ''C. rong'', known from a complete skeleton belonging to a juvenile individual preserved with extensive soft-tissues, including wing membranes and a dense covering of pycnofibres. Some of these pycnofibres appear to be branched, resembling the feathers of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs, and suggesting that pterosaur pycnofibres may be closely related to feathers in dinosaurs. Discovery and naming The type and only specimen, NJU-57003, was discovered in the Tiaojishan Formation of China. The specimen hails from the Mutoudeng locality of the Daohugou bed, located in Qinglong County in Hebei Province, which has been dated to around the Callovian to Oxfordian stages during the Middle to Late Jurassic period. NJU-57003 consists of nearly complete and articulated skeleton with ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batrachognathus
''Batrachognathus'' is an extinct genus of anurognathid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic ( Oxfordian to Kimmeridgian) Karabastau Formation of the central Asian republic of Kazakhstan. The genus was named in 1948 by the Russian paleontologist Anatoly Nicolaevich Ryabinin. The type species is ''Batrachognathus volans''. The genus name is derived from Greek ''batrakhos'', "frog" and ''gnathos'', "jaw", in reference to the short wide head. The specific epithet means "flying" in Latin. Description ''Batrachognathus'' was a small pterosaur, with a wingspan of and body mass of . Like all anurognathids ''Batrachognathus'' is assumed to have been an insectivore, catching insects and perhaps small fish on the wing with its broad mouth. Three fossils have been found in a lacustrine sediment in the North-West Tien Shan foothills of the Karatau Mountains. In the Jurassic this area had some similarities in habitat to the Solnhofen lagoon deposits in Bavaria, Germany. The genus is based on h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luopterus
''Luopterus'' (meaning "Lü Junchang's wing") is an extinct genus of anurognathid pterosaur containing only the holotype species ''L. mutoudengensis'' that is known from the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of Qinglong, northern Hebei Province, China. It was originally named as a species of ''Dendrorhynchoides'' in 2012 but it was moved to the genus ''Luopterus'' in 2020. ''Luopterus'' was originally thought to be from the Early Cretaceous, with a wingspan that is about , making it one of the smallest known pterosaurs. History In 2010 the discovery of the holotype, a juvenile, was announced, that proved that a more elongated tail was present after all, albeit not so long as the faked tail of the holotype of ''Dendrorhynchoides'' (the animal it was first assigned to): about 85% of femur length. This specimen eventually was designated as the holotype of a new species, ''Dendrorhynchoides mutoudengensis'', by Hone and Lü in 2012. The specimen was originally stored in the Guilin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinomacrops
''Sinomacrops'' is a genus of extinct anurognathid pterosaur from the Middle to Late Jurassic periods of what is now the Daohugou Beds of the Tiaojishan Formation in Mutoudeng, Qinglong County of the Hebei province. The remains of ''Sinomacrops'' date back to around 164 to 158 million years ago. The type and only known species is ''Sinomacrops bondei''. Etymology ''Sinomacrops'' derives from the Ancient Greek word roots ''Sino~'', referring to China, ''macro~'' (''makros''), meaning large, and ''ops'', meaning eyes/face. The name ''Sinomacrops'' is in reference to both the large eyes of and the broad faces that are typical of the family Anurognathidae, as well as to the Chinese origin of the animal. The specific name, ''bondei'', honors paleontologist Niels Bonde. Description ''Sinomacrops'' exhibits two autapomorphies (distinguishing traits) that distinguish it from other pterosaurs: one of them is having the first three maxillary alveoli (tooth sockets) closely spaced, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anurognathus
''Anurognathus'' is a genus of small pterosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic period (Tithonian stage). ''Anurognathus'' was first named and described by Ludwig Döderlein in 1923.Döderlein, L. (1923). "''Anurognathus Ammoni'', ein neuer Flugsaurier". ''Sitzungsberichte der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Abteilung der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München'', 1923, 306-307. The type species is ''Anurognathus ammoni''. The genus name ''Anurognathus'' is derived from the Greek ''αν''/ ''an-'' ("without"), ''оυρα''/ ''oura'' ("tail"), and ''γναθος''/ ''gnathos'' ("jaw") in reference to its unusually small tail relative to other "rhamphorhynchoid" (i.e. basal) pterosaurs."Anurognathus." In: Cranfield, Ingrid (ed.). ''The Illustrated Directory of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures''. London: Salamander Books, Ltd. Pp. 292-295. The specific name ''ammoni'' honours the Bavarian geologist Ludwig von Ammon, from whose collection Döderlein had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeholopterus
''Jeholopterus'' was a small anurognathid pterosaur from the Middle to Late Jurassic Daohugou Beds of the Tiaojishan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China, preserved with hair-like pycnofibres and skin remains. Naming The genus was named in 2002 by Wang Xiaolin, Zhou Zhonghe and Xu Xing. The type species, the only known, is ''Jeholopterus ninchengensis''. The genus name is derived from its place of discovery, Jehol in China, and a Latinized Greek ''pteron'', "wing". The specific name refers to Nincheng County. Description The type species is based on holotype IVPP V12705, a nearly complete specimen from the Daohugou beds of Ningcheng County in the Neimongol (Inner Mongolia) Autonomous Region of China.Wang, X., Zhou, Z., Zhang, F., and Xu, X. (2002). "A nearly completely articulated rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur with exceptionally well-preserved wing membranes and 'hairs' from Inner Mongolia, northeast China." ''Chinese Science Bulletin'' 47(3), 226 – 232. The specimen is cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinomacrops Bondei
''Sinomacrops'' is a genus of extinct anurognathid pterosaur from the Middle to Late Jurassic periods of what is now the Daohugou Beds of the Tiaojishan Formation in Mutoudeng, Qinglong County of the Hebei province. The remains of ''Sinomacrops'' date back to around 164 to 158 million years ago. The type and only known species is ''Sinomacrops bondei''. Etymology ''Sinomacrops'' derives from the Ancient Greek word roots ''Sino~'', referring to China, ''macro~'' (''makros''), meaning large, and ''ops'', meaning eyes/face. The name ''Sinomacrops'' is in reference to both the large eyes of and the broad faces that are typical of the family Anurognathidae, as well as to the Chinese origin of the animal. The specific name, ''bondei'', honors paleontologist Niels Bonde. Description ''Sinomacrops'' exhibits two autapomorphies (distinguishing traits) that distinguish it from other pterosaurs: one of them is having the first three maxillary alveoli (tooth sockets) closely spaced, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anurognathus Ammoni
''Anurognathus'' is a genus of small pterosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic period (Tithonian stage). ''Anurognathus'' was first named and described by Ludwig Döderlein in 1923.Döderlein, L. (1923). "''Anurognathus Ammoni'', ein neuer Flugsaurier". ''Sitzungsberichte der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Abteilung der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München'', 1923, 306-307. The type species is ''Anurognathus ammoni''. The genus name ''Anurognathus'' is derived from the Greek ''αν''/ ''an-'' ("without"), ''оυρα''/ ''oura'' ("tail"), and ''γναθος''/ ''gnathos'' ("jaw") in reference to its unusually small tail relative to other "rhamphorhynchoid" (i.e. basal) pterosaurs."Anurognathus." In: Cranfield, Ingrid (ed.). ''The Illustrated Directory of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures''. London: Salamander Books, Ltd. Pp. 292-295. The specific name ''ammoni'' honours the Bavarian geologist Ludwig von Ammon, from whose collection Döderlein had a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vesperopterylus
''Vesperopterylus'' (meaning "dusk wing") is a genus of anurognathid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of China, the geologically youngest member of its group. Notably, ''Vesperopterylus'' appears to have a reversed first toe, which would have been suited for gripping; it was likely arboreal, climbing or clinging to tree branches with curved, sharp claws. It also has a relatively short tail, in contrast with its tailless (''Jeholopterus'') and long-tailed (''Dendrorhynchoides'') relatives. It was first described and named by Lü Junchang ''et al''. While the original spelling of the name was ''Versperopterylus'', this was a typo, and was emended by the authors in accordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Classification In 2021, a phylogenetic analysis conducted by Xuefang Wei and colleagues recovered ''Vesperopterylus'' within the subfamily Anurognathinae, a subfamily within the family Anurognathidae. Within the subfamily, ''Vesperopt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesadactylus
''Mesadactylus'' ('mesa finger') is an extinct genus of pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado, United States. The genus was named in 1989 by James Jensen and Kevin Padian. The type species is ''Mesadactylus ornithosphyos''. Classification The holotype is BYU 2024, a synsacrum of seven sacral vertebrae, featuring a unique—for a pterosaur—complete fusion of the spinae into a supraneural blade, a character, as the specific name indicates more typical for birds, at first leading Jensen to assign the fossil to a bird, '' Palaeopteryx''. Further referred associated remains include arms bones, pectoral girdle bones, vertebrae (including cervix and sacral), and femora.Jensen, J. A., and Padian, K. (1989) Small pterosaurs and dinosaurs from the Uncompahgre fauna (Brushy Basin Member, Morrison Formation: ?Tithonian), late Jurassic, western Colorado. ''Journal of Paleontology'' 63:363–374. Additional material was described in 200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
