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Hamipterus
''Hamipterus'' is an extinct genus of pteranodontoid pterosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Shengjinkou Formation of northwestern China. It is known from a single species, the type species, ''H. tianshanensis''. * Discovery and naming In 2006 from the Hami region in Xinjiang, the Shengjinkou Formation, a Konservat-Lagerstätte was reported, in this case lake sediments allowing for an exceptional preservation of fossils. The same year, Qiu Zhanxiang and Wang Banyue started official excavations. Part of the finds consisted of dense concentrations of pterosaur bones, associated with soft tissues and eggs. The site represented a nesting colony that storm floods had covered with mud. Dozens of individuals could be secured from a total that in 2014 was estimated to run into the many hundreds. In 2014, the type species ''Hamipterus tianshanensis'' was named and described by Wang Xiaolin, Alexander Kellner, Jiang Shunxing, Wang Qiang, Ma Yingxia, Yahefujiang Paidoula, Cheng Xin, Taissa R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iberodactylus
''Iberodactylus'' is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaurs belonging to the clade Anhangueria, that during the Early Cretaceous lived in the area of present Spain. The type species is ''Iberodactylus andreui''. History of discovery and naming In the late 1980s, amateur paleontologist Javier Andreu discovered a pterosaur skull at the Los Quiñones site, west of Obón in Aragón. At the time it represented the most complete discovery of pterosaur fossil material in Spain apart from the remains of '' Prejanopterus''. In 2014, the find was reported in the scientific literature by José Antonio Ulloa-Rivas and identified as a member of the Ornithocheiroidea.Ulloa-Rivas, J.A. & Canudo, J.I. 2014. "New cranial remains of Ornithocheiroidea (Pterosauria) from the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of the Iberian Peninsula (Nuevos restos craneales de Ornithocheiroidea (Pterosauria) del Barremiense (Cretácico Inferior) de la Península Ibérica)". In: (Rodríguez, G.J.A. et alii, eds) ''New In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iberodactylus And Hamipterus Snouts
''Iberodactylus'' is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaurs belonging to the clade Anhangueria, that during the Early Cretaceous lived in the area of present Spain. The type species is ''Iberodactylus andreui''. History of discovery and naming In the late 1980s, amateur paleontologist Javier Andreu discovered a pterosaur skull at the Los Quiñones site, west of Obón in Aragón. At the time it represented the most complete discovery of pterosaur fossil material in Spain apart from the remains of '' Prejanopterus''. In 2014, the find was reported in the scientific literature by José Antonio Ulloa-Rivas and identified as a member of the Ornithocheiroidea.Ulloa-Rivas, J.A. & Canudo, J.I. 2014. "New cranial remains of Ornithocheiroidea (Pterosauria) from the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of the Iberian Peninsula (Nuevos restos craneales de Ornithocheiroidea (Pterosauria) del Barremiense (Cretácico Inferior) de la Península Ibérica)". In: (Rodríguez, G.J.A. et alii, eds) ''New In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamipteridae
Hamipteridae (or hamipterids) is a small family of anhanguerian pterosaurs known from the Early Cretaceous of China and Spain. Classification The cladogram below follows the topology recovered by Pêgas ''et al.'' (2019). In the analysis, they assigned Hamipteridae as the sister taxon of the family Anhangueridae, both within the larger clade Anhangueria Anhangueria (or anhanguerians) is a group of pterosaurs belonging to the clade Pteranodontoidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods (Valanginian to Turonian stages), around 140 to 92.5 million years ....Rodrigo V. Pêgas, Borja Holgado & Maria Eduarda C. Leal (2019) On ''Targaryendraco wiedenrothi'' gen. nov. (Pterodactyloidea, Pteranodontoidea, Lanceodontia) and recognition of a new cosmopolitan lineage of Cretaceous toothed pterodactyloids, Historical Biology, References Pteranodontoids Prehistoric reptile families {{pterosaur-stub ... [...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] |
Anhangueria
Anhangueria (or anhanguerians) is a group of pterosaurs belonging to the clade Pteranodontoidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods (Valanginian to Turonian stages), around 140 to 92.5 million years ago. Anhangueria was named by paleontologists Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner in a review of ''Ornithocheirus'' species in 2013, they defined the clade as a branch-based taxon consisting of all pteranodontoids more closely related to ''Anhanguera blittersdorffi'' than to ''Istiodactylus latidens'' and ''Cimoliopterus cuvieri''. Classification Anhangueria originally only contained the genera '' Brasileodactylus'', ''Camposipterus'', ''Cearadactylus'', ''Ludodactylus'' as well as the family Anhangueridae, however, recent analyses had recovered the family Hamipteridae within this clade as well. In 2014, paleontologist Brian Andres and colleagues assigned more groups and genera within this clade, this included ''Guidraco'', the subfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Kellner
Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner (born September 26, 1961) is a Brazilian geologist and paleontologist who is a leading expert in the field of studying pterosaurs. His research has focused mainly on fossil reptiles from the Cretaceous Period, including extinct dinosaurs and crocodylomorphs. Kellner has over 500 publications to his name, has published more than 160 primary studies and two science books. He has participated in paleontological expeditions to many locations including Brazil, Chile, Iran, the United States, Argentina, China, and Antarctica. His scientific achievements include the description of more than thirty species. For his work he has received several honors and prizes, including the TWAS Prize for Earth Sciences from The World Academy of Sciences and admission to the National Order of Scientific Merit (class Comendador), one Brazil's most prestigious awards. Biography Kellner was born in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, son of a German father and Austrian mother. In hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shengjinkou Formation
The Shengjinkou Formation is an Early Cretaceous (Aptian)-aged Konservat-Lagerstätte composed of "interbedded red green and yellow variegated mudstones and siltstones" that is part of the larger Tugulu Group of China.Lucas, Spencer G, Chinese Fossil vertebrates, Pp. 158-159, New York, Columbia University Press, . Dinosaur and pterosaur remains have been recovered from the formation.* The Shengjikou Formation was first identified in a 1956 manuscript by Xia Gongjun. The type locality is near Turpan City in the Xinjiang Region of China. In 2006 from the Hami region in Xinjiang, the Shengjinkou Formation, a Konservat-Lagerstätte was reported, in this case lake sediments allowing for an exceptional preservation of fossils. The same year, Qiu Zhanxiang and Wang Banyue started official excavations. Part of the finds consisted of dense concentrations of pterosaur bones, associated with soft tissues and eggs. The site represented a nesting colony that storm floods had covered with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anhangueridae
Anhangueridae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. They were among the last pterosaurs to possess teeth. A recent study discussing the group considered the Anhangueridae to be typified by a premaxillary crest and a lateral expansion in the distal rostrum. The same study presented a cladistic analysis, for which an "agreement subtree" was calculated. The Anhangueridae was found to be sister taxon to the large crested ''Tropeognathus''. Relationships There are competing theories of ornithocheiromorph phylogeny (evolutionary relationships). Below is cladogram following a topology recovered by Brian Andres, using the most recent iteration of his data set. The cladogram below follows Pêgas ''et al.'' (2019), who recovered Anhangueridae as a much more inclusive group. The analysis found most of the ornithocheirids falling into this family, while ''Ornithocheirus'' itself was recovered as a basal member of Ornithocheirae Ornithocheirae is an extinct clad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pterodactyloidea
Pterodactyloidea (derived from the Greek words ''πτερόν'' (''pterón'', for usual ''ptéryx'') "wing", and ''δάκτυλος'' (''dáktylos'') "finger" meaning "winged finger", "wing-finger" or "finger-wing") is one of the two traditional suborders of pterosaurs ("wing lizards"), and contains the most derived members of this group of flying reptiles. They appeared during the middle Jurassic Period, and differ from the basal (though paraphyletic) rhamphorhynchoids by their short tails and long wing metacarpals (hand bones). The most advanced forms also lack teeth, and by the late Cretaceous, all known pterodactyloids were toothless. Many species had well-developed crests on the skull, a form of display taken to extremes in giant-crested forms like ''Nyctosaurus'' and ''Tupandactylus''. Pterodactyloids were the last surviving pterosaurs when the order became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period, together with the non-avian dinosaurs and most marine reptiles. "Pteroda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Proposals for the exact age of the Barremian-Aptian boundary ranged from 126 to 117 Ma until recently (as of 2019), but based on drillholes in Svalbard the defining early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (OAE1a) was carbon isotope dated to 123.1±0.3 Ma, limiting the possible range for the boundary to c. 122–121 Ma. There is a possible link between this anoxic event and a series of Early Cretaceous large igneous provinces (LIP). The Ontong Java-Manihiki-Hikurangi large igneous province, emplaced in the South Pacific at c. 120 Ma, is by far the largest LIP in Earth's history. The Ontong Java Plateau today covers an area of 1,860,000 km2. In the Indian Ocean another LIP began to form at c. 120 Ma, the Kerguelen P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autapomorphies
In phylogenetics, an autapomorphy is a distinctive feature, known as a derived trait, that is unique to a given taxon. That is, it is found only in one taxon, but not found in any others or outgroup taxa, not even those most closely related to the focal taxon (which may be a species, family or in general any clade). It can therefore be considered an apomorphy in relation to a single taxon. The word ''autapomorphy'', first introduced in 1950 by German entomologist Willi Hennig, is derived from the Greek words αὐτός, ''autos'' "self"; ἀπό, ''apo'' "away from"; and μορφή, ''morphḗ'' = "shape". Discussion Because autapomorphies are only present in a single taxon, they do not convey information about relationship. Therefore, autapomorphies are not useful to infer phylogenetic relationships. However, autapomorphy, like synapomorphy and plesiomorphy is a relative concept depending on the taxon in question. An autapomorphy at a given level may well be a synapomorphy at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludodactylus
''Ludodactylus'' (meaning "play finger") is a genus of anhanguerid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Aptian stage) of what is now the Crato Formation of the Araripe Basin in Ceará, Brazil. The type and only species is ''L. sibbicki''. The generic name ''Ludodactylus'' refers to the fact that the animal had the combination of teeth and a ''Pteranodon''-like head crest, similar to many toy pterosaurs, and no such creature was known to exist until the discovery of ''Ludodactylus''. However, ''Ludodactylus'' is not the only pterosaur known to possess these features, its very close relative ''Caulkicephalus'' is another example. Etymology The genus was named by Eberhard Frey ''et al.'' in 2003 and contains one known species, ''Ludodactylus sibbicki''. The name is derived from Latin ''ludus'', "play" and Greek ''daktylos'', "finger". ''Ludus'' refers to the fact, long lamented by paleontologists, that many toy pterosaurs combined teeth with a ''Pteranodon''-l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
