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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] |
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] |
Anurognathinae
Anurognathidae is a 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 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'', 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 Anurognathidae was named in 1928 by Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás (as the su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batrachognathinae
Anurognathidae is a 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 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'', 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 Anurognathidae was named in 1928 by Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás (as the subfami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anurognathid
Anurognathidae is a 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 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'', 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 Anurognathidae was named in 1928 by Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás (as the subfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pterosaur
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] |
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] |
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] |
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] |
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] |
Pygostyle
Pygostyle describes a skeletal condition in which the final few caudal vertebrae are fused into a single ossification, supporting the tail feathers and musculature. In modern birds, the rectrices attach to these. The pygostyle is the main component of the uropygium, a structure colloquially known as the bishop's nose, parson's nose, pope's nose, or sultan's nose. This is the fleshy protuberance visible at the posterior end of a bird (most commonly a chicken or turkey) that has been dressed for cooking. It has a swollen appearance because it also contains the uropygial gland that produces preen oil. Evolution Pygostyles probably began to evolve very early in the Cretaceous period, perhaps 140 – 130 million years ago. The earliest known species to have evolved a pygostyle were members of the Confuciusornithidae. The structure provided an evolutionary advantage, as a completely mobile tail as found in species such as '' Archaeopteryx'' is detrimental to its use for flight contro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylogenetic Analysis
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups of organisms. These relationships are determined by Computational phylogenetics, phylogenetic inference methods that focus on observed heritable traits, such as DNA sequences, protein amino acid sequences, or morphology. The result of such an analysis is a phylogenetic tree—a diagram containing a hypothesis of relationships that reflects the evolutionary history of a group of organisms. The tips of a phylogenetic tree can be living taxa or fossils, and represent the "end" or the present time in an evolutionary lineage. A phylogenetic diagram can be rooted or unrooted. A rooted tree diagram indicates the hypothetical common ancestor of the tree. An unrooted tree diagram (a network) makes no assumption about the ancestral line, and does n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, the equivalent Latin term ''cladus'' (plural ''cladi'') is often used in taxonomical literature. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed monophyletic (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
