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Azhdarchinae
Azhdarchidae (from the Persian word , , a dragon-like creature in Persian mythology) is a family of pterosaurs known primarily from the Late Cretaceous Period, though an isolated vertebra apparently from an azhdarchid is known from the Early Cretaceous as well (late Berriasian age, about 140 million years ago). Azhdarchids included some of the largest known flying animals of all time, but smaller cat-size members have also been found. Originally considered a sub-family of Pteranodontidae, Nesov (1984) named the Azhdarchinae to include the pterosaurs ''Azhdarcho'', ''Quetzalcoatlus'', and ''Titanopteryx'' (now known as ''Arambourgiania''). They were among the last known surviving members of the pterosaurs, and were a rather successful group with a worldwide distribution. By the time of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, most pterosaur families except for the Azhdarchidae disappear from the fossil record, but recent studies indicate a wealth of pterosaurian fauna, including pteran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryodrakon
''Cryodrakon'' ("cold dragon") is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Canada. It contains a single species, ''Cryodrakon boreas'', recovered from the Dinosaur Park Formation. Discovery and history Since 1972, bones of large azhdarchids have been reported from Alberta, representing the first pterosaur finds from Canada. These were sometimes referred to a ''Quetzalcoatlus'' sp. Later research by Michael Habib indicated that they represented a taxon new to science. In 2019, the type species ''Cryodrakon boreas'' was named and described by David William Elliott Hone, Michael Habib and François Therrien. The generic name is derived from the Greek κρύος, ''kryos'', "icy cold", and δράκων, ''drakon'', "dragon". The specific name means "belonging to '' Boreas'', the north wind", or simply "northern". Habib had considered the name ''Cryodrakon viserion'', as a reference to the ice dragon in ''Game of Thrones''. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arambourgiania
''Arambourgiania'' is an extinct genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period (Maastrichtian stage) of Jordan, and possibly the United States.Harrell, T. Lynn Jr.; Gibson, Michael A.; Langston, Wann Jr. (2016). "A cervical vertebra of ''Arambourgiania philadelphiae'' (Pterosauria, Azhdarchidae) from the Late Campanian micaceous facies of the Coon Creek Formation in McNairy County, Tennessee, USA" ''Bull. Alabama Mus. Nat. Hist.'' 33:94–103 ''Arambourgiania'' was among the largest members of its family, the Azhdarchidae, and it is also one of the largest flying animals ever known. The incomplete left ulna of the "Sidi Chennane azhdarchid" from Morocco may have also belonged to ''Arambourgiania''. History of discovery In the early 1940s, a railway worker during repairs on the Amman-Damascus railroad near Russeifa found a two foot long fossil bone. In 1943 this was acquired by the director of a nearby phosphate mine, Amin Kawar, who brought it to the attention ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azhdarcho
''Azhdarcho'' is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of the Bissekty Formation (middle Turonian stage, about 92 million years ago) of Uzbekistan, as well as the Zhirkindek Formation of Kazakhstan. It is known from fragmentary remains including the distinctive, elongated neck vertebrae that characterizes members of the family Azhdarchidae, a family that includes many giant pterosaurs such as ''Quetzalcoatlus''. The name ''Azhdarcho'' comes from the Persian word '' azhdar'' (), a dragon-like creature in Persian mythology. The type species is ''Azhdarcho lancicollis''. The specific epithet ''lancicollis'' is derived from the Latin words ''lancea'' (meaning "lance" or "spear") and ''collum'' ("neck"). History The fossil remains of ''Azhdarcho'' were recovered in the Kyzyl Kum desert (from the Taykarshinskaya unit of the Bissekty Formation) by Lev A. Nesov during expeditions to Central Asia in 1974–1981. The type specimen, given the catalog number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aerotitan
''Aerotitan'' is a genus of large azhdarchid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous period (Maastrichtian stage) of what is now the Allen Formation of the Neuquén Basin in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Discovery and naming The type species ''Aerotitan sudamericanus'' was named and described in 2012 by Fernando Novas, Martin Kundrat, Federico Agnolín, Martin Ezcurra, Per Erik Ahlberg, Marcelo Isasi, Alberto Arriagada and Pablo Chafrat. The generic name is derived from Greek ἀήρ, ''aer'', "air", and Titan, in reference to the fact the species represents a large flying reptile. The specific name refers to its provenance from South America. The holotype, MPCN-PV 0054, has been recovered near the Bajo de Arriagada site, in Patagonia, from a layer of the upper Allen Formation. It consists, according to the original description, of a partial rostrum with a preserved length of . This snout is elongated and transversely compressed and the jaws are toothless. The wingspan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phosphatodraco
''Phosphatodraco'' is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous of what is now Morocco. In 2000, a pterosaur specimen consisting of five cervical (neck) vertebrae was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Phosphatic Basin. The specimen was made the holotype of the new genus and species ''Phosphatodraco mauritanicus'' in 2003; the genus name means " dragon from the phosphates", and the specific name refers to the region of Mauretania. ''Phosphatodraco'' was the first Late Cretaceous pterosaur known from North Africa, and the second pterosaur genus described from Morocco. It is one of the only known azhdarchids preserving a relatively complete neck, and was one of the last known pterosaurs. Additional cervical vertebrae have since been assigned to the genus, and it has been suggested that fossils of the pterosaur '' Tethydraco'' represent wing elements of ''Phosphatodraco''. Due to the fragmentary nature of the holotype cervical vertebrae, there has been co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wellnhopterus
''Wellnhopterus'' () is an Azhdarchidae, azhdarchid pterosaur recovered from the Late Cretaceous Javelina Formation in Texas that was previously identified as a thalassodrominae, thalassodromine. It consists of a set of upper and lower jaws (TMM 42489-2), as well as some cervical vertebrae (TMM 42489-2.3 to 42489-2.8) and a fragmentary long bone (TMM 42489-2.9). In July 2021, the jaws were given the genus name "''Javelinadactylus''" (meaning "Javelina Finger"), with the type species, type and only species as "''J. sagebieli''"; however, this article has now been Retractions in academic publishing, retracted. In a paper published in December 2021, the complete holotype was independently named ''Wellnhopterus'', with the only species being ''W. brevirostris''. As of 2022, this is the formal name of this pterosaur. Discovery and naming In March 1986, jaws and neck vertebrae of a large pterosaur were discovered in Brewster County by preparator Robert Rainey. In 1991, Peter Wellnhofer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azhdarcho Lancicollis
''Azhdarcho'' is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of the Bissekty Formation (middle Turonian stage, about 92 million years ago) of Uzbekistan, as well as the Zhirkindek Formation of Kazakhstan. It is known from fragmentary remains including the distinctive, elongated neck vertebrae that characterizes members of the family Azhdarchidae, a family that includes many giant pterosaurs such as ''Quetzalcoatlus''. The name ''Azhdarcho'' comes from the Persian word '' azhdar'' (), a dragon-like creature in Persian mythology. The type species is ''Azhdarcho lancicollis''. The specific epithet ''lancicollis'' is derived from the Latin words ''lancea'' (meaning "lance" or "spear") and ''collum'' ("neck"). History The fossil remains of ''Azhdarcho'' were recovered in the Kyzyl Kum desert (from the Taykarshinskaya unit of the Bissekty Formation) by Lev A. Nesov during expeditions to Central Asia in 1974–1981. The type specimen, given the catalog number Ц ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persian Language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan in three mutually intelligible standard varieties, namely Iranian Persian (officially known as ''Persian''), Dari Persian (officially known as ''Dari'' since 1964) and Tajiki Persian (officially known as ''Tajik'' since 1999).Siddikzoda, S. "Tajik Language: Farsi or not Farsi?" in ''Media Insight Central Asia #27'', August 2002. It is also spoken natively in the Tajik variety by a significant population within Uzbekistan, as well as within other regions with a Persianate history in the cultural sphere of Greater Iran. It is written officially within Iran and Afghanistan in the Persian alphabet, a derivation of the Arabic script, and within Tajikistan in the Tajik alphabet, a der ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhejiangopterus
''Zhejiangopterus'' is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur known from one species, which lived in China during the late Cretaceous Period. The genus was named in 1994 by Chinese paleontologists Cai Zhengquan and Wei Feng. The type species is ''Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis''. The genus name refers to Zhejiang Province and a Latinized Greek ''pteron'', "wing". The specific name refers to the city of Linhai. Discovery In 1986 a young chalkstone quarry worker named Xu Chengfa, found a large fossil near the village of Aolicun in Linhai. Xu by letter informed the director of the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History at Hangzhou, Ming Hua, who from it understood the remains were those of an unknown pterosaur. Therefore, he sent a team consisting of the describers and Wu Weitang to investigate. They secured the fossil, instructing the local population to be alert for possible further finds. Xu himself managed to find three more specimens before being killed in an accident in 1988; another ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azhdaha
Azhdaha, Azhdahak, Ezhdeha ( fa, اژدها) or Azhdar (اژدر) is a mythical creature in Iranian mythology, roughly equivalent to the dragon. They are gigantic snake-like creatures living in the air, in the sea, or on the earth. ''Sad dar-e nathr'' and ''sad dar-e Bondahesh'', ''Shahnameh'' and ''Garshaspnameh'' are among the principal texts that contain information about the creature. In Persian literature, Azhdahas are depicted as a giant snake or lizard with wings. According to tradition, they have a huge body, a fierce face, their mouths are wide with many teeth, and their eyes are bright. Azhdahās are actually normal snakes, according to ''Ajāyeb ul-Makhlooghāt'', a book by Mohammad b. Mahmoud b. Ahmad-e Tusi (wrote in 1160 AD), "when a snake lives 100 years and its length becomes 30 Gazes (a traditional measurement unit approximate to a meter), it is called an azhdahā". He also wrote that "because of their harassment to other creatures, God eventually will throw them ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thanatosdrakon
''Thanatosdrakon'' () (meaning "dragon of death") is a genus of quetzalcoatline azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Upper Coniacian–Lower Santonian) Plottier Formation of the Neuquén Basin in western Argentina (Andes mountain range). The genus name is derived from the Greek words ''thanatos'' (=death) and ''drakon'' (=dragon), while the specific name is a Quechuan word meaning "flying serpent" and refers to the Incan deity Amaru. The type and only species is ''Thanatosdrakon amaru'', known from two specimens consisting of several well-preserved axial and appendicular bones including material previously undescribed in giant azhdarchids (e.g. complete notarium, dorsosacral vertebrae and caudal vertebra). ''Thanatosdrakon'' is one of the oldest known members of the Quetzalcoatlinae. ''T. amaru'' lived from about 90 to 86 million years ago. Description ''Thanatosdrakon'' is known from two well-preserved specimens first described in 2018. The holotype, UNCUYO-LD 307 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quetzalcoatlus
''Quetzalcoatlus'' is a genus of pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous period of North America (Maastrichtian stage); its members were among the largest known flying animals of all time. ''Quetzalcoatlus'' is a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks. Its name comes from the Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl. The type species is ''Q. northropi'', named by Douglas Lawson in 1975; the genus also includes the smaller species ''Q. lawsoni'', which was known for many years as an unnamed species before being named by Brian Andres and Wann Langston Jr. (posthumously) in 2021. Discovery and species The first ''Quetzalcoatlus'' fossils were discovered in Texas, United States, from the Maastrichtian Javelina Formation at Big Bend National Park (dated to around 68 million years ago) in 1971 by Douglas A. Lawson, then a geology graduate student from the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
