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Shenzhoupterus Chaoyangensis
''Shenzhoupterus'' is a genus of chaoyangopterid pterosaur from the Jiufotang Formation of modern-day Liaoning, China. Fossil remains of ''Shenzhoupterus'' date back to the Early Cretaceous period, approximately 120 million years ago. Etymology ''Shenzhoupterus'' was named in 2008 by Lü Junchang, David Unwin, Xu Li and Zhang Xingliao. The type species is ''Shenzoupterus chaoyangensis''. The genus name is derived from ''Shenzhou'', an old name for China, "the divine land", and a Latinized Greek ''pteron'', "wing". The specific name refers to Chaoyang. Description ''Shenzhoupterus'' is based on holotype HGM 41HIII-305A ( Henan Geological Museum at Zhengzhou), the articulated skull and skeleton of a single individual, with a wingspan of . ''Shenzhoupterus'' lacked teeth, and had a crest on its skull that arched over the eyes and terminated in a small point toward the back of the head. The nasoantorbital fenestra (an opening incorporating the holes for the nostrils and ... [...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] |
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several examples, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept. For example, the holotype for the butterfly '' Plebejus idas longinus'' is a preserved specimen of that subspecies, held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. In botany, an isotype is a duplicate of the holotype, where holotype and isotypes are often pieces from the same individual plant or samples from the same gathering. A holotype is not necessarily "typ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tapejaridae
Tapejaridae (from a Tupi word meaning "the old being") are a family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period. Members are currently known from Brazil, England, Hungary, Morocco, Spain, the United States, and China. The most primitive genera were found in China, indicating that the family has an Asian origin. Description Tapejarids were small to medium-sized pterosaurs with several unique, shared characteristics, mainly relating to the skull. Most tapejarids possessed a bony crest arising from the snout (formed mostly by the premaxillary bones of the upper jaw tip). In some species, this bony crest is known to have supported an even larger crest of softer, fibrous tissue that extends back along the skull. Tapejarids are also characterized by their large nasoantorbital fenestra, the main opening in the skull in front of the eyes, which spans at least half the length of the entire skull in this family. Their eye sockets were small and pear-shaped. Studies of tapejarid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azhdarchoidea
Azhdarchoidea (or azhdarchoids) is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea, more specifically within the group Ornithocheiroidea. Pterosaurs belonging to this group lived throughout the Early Cretaceous, Early and Late Cretaceous periods, with one tentative member, ''Tendaguripterus'', that lived in the Late Jurassic period. The largest azhdarchoids include members of the family Azhdarchidae, examples of these are ''Quetzalcoatlus'', ''Hatzegopteryx'', and ''Arambourgiania''. The Azhdarchoidea has been recovered as either closely related to the Ctenochasmatoidea, as the sister taxon of the Pteranodontoidea within the Ornithocheiroidea, or within the Tapejaroidea, which in turn was also within the Ornithocheiroidea. Classification Azhdarchoidea was given a phylogenetic definition by David Unwin in 2003. Unwin defined the group as the most recent common ancestor of ''Quetzalcoatlus'' and ''Tapejara (pterosaur), Tapejara'', and all its descendants.Unwin, D. M., (20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to descendants, nor does it show how much they have changed, so many differing evolutionary trees can be consistent with the same cladogram. A cladogram uses lines that branch off in different directions ending at a clade, a group of organisms with a last common ancestor. There are many shapes of cladograms but they all have lines that branch off from other lines. The lines can be traced back to where they branch off. These branching off points represent a hypothetical ancestor (not an actual entity) which can be inferred to exhibit the traits shared among the terminal taxa above it. This hypothetical ancestor might then provide clues about the order of evolution of various features, adaptation, and other evolutionary narratives about ance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jidapterus
''Jidapterus'' is a genus of chaoyangopterid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. The genus was in 2003 named by Dong Zhiming, Sun Yue-Wu and Wu Shao-Yuan. The type species is ''Jidapterus edentus''. The genus name is derived from ''Jílín Dàxué'' or "Jilin University" and a Latinized Greek ''pteron'', "wing". The specific name means "toothless" in Latin. Description ''Jidapterus'' is based on holotype CAD-01, a nearly complete skeleton with partial skull. The skull is toothless and relatively long, with a straight and very pointed beak, and a large hole where the antorbital fenestra is joined with the nostrils. The eye sockets are small, and there is no crest along the lower jaw as seen in ornithocheiroids, although a short projection was present at the back of the skull. The wingspan of this individual was estimated to be . Classification The classification of ''Jidapterus'' has been unstable; the original auth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eopteranodon
''Eopteranodon'' (meaning "dawn ''Pteranodon'' (toothless wing)") is a genus of tapejarid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Beipiao City, Liaoning, China. The genus was named in 2005 by paleontologists Lü Junchang and Zhang Xingliao. The type and only species is ''Eopteranodon lii''. Description and classification ''Eopteranodon'' is based on the type specimen or holotype BPV-078, an incomplete skeleton and skull. Its skull, including a large crest, was toothless and similar to that of ''Pteranodon''. The skull lacks the point of the snout but it was in life less than 200 millimeters long (7.9 inches), and the animal had a wingspan of about 1.1 meters (3.6 feet). A second specimen, D2526, described in 2006, had a larger wingspan. Despite its similarities to ''Pteranodon'', ''Eopteranodon'' was not placed into a family by its describers, who put it into the clade Pteranodontia as '' incertae sedis'' (uncertain posi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eoazhdarcho
''Eoazhdarcho'' is a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid pterosaur named in 2005 by Chinese paleontologists Lü Junchang and Ji Qiang. The type and only known species is ''Eoazhdarcho liaoxiensis''. The fossil was found in the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. Etymology The genus name, ''Eoazhdarcho'', combines a Greek ''eos'', "dawn" with the name of the genus ''Azhdarcho'', with the implication it was an early related form of the latter. The specific name, ''liaoxiensis'', refers to the ancient region Liaoxi. Description ''Eoazhdarcho'' is based on holotype GMN-03-11-02, a partial skeleton and lower jaw, and is distinguished from other pterosaurs by the proportions of its bones. The metacarpals are very elongated but the cervical vertebrae and hind limbs are not. It was relatively small by azhdarchoid standards, with a wingspan of about 1.6 meters (5.2 feet). Classification The describers first assigned ''Eoazhdarcho'' t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaoyangopterus
''Chaoyangopterus'' is a genus of chaoyangopterid pterosaur known from a partial skeleton found in Liaoning, China. ''Chaoyangopterus'' was found in rocks dating back to the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Dapingfang, Chaoyang. Etymology ''Chaoyangopterus'' was named and described in 2003 by Wang Xiaolin and Zhou Zhonghe. The type species is ''Chaoyangopterus zhangi''. The genus name is derived from Chaoyang and a Latinized Greek ''pteron'', "wing". The specific name honors journalist Zhang Wanlian for his efforts in protecting fossil sites. Description ''Chaoyangopterus'' is based on holotype IVPP V13397, which includes the front of the skull, the lower jaws, the neck vertebrae, the shoulder and pelvic girdles, and the limbs. The skull is about long and toothless, and its wingspan is estimated to have been around . Wang and Zhou concluded that it compared most closely to ''Nyctosaurus'' and classified it as a nyctosaurid, although they found that i ... [...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] |
Cladistics
Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived characteristics ( synapomorphies'')'' that are not present in more distant groups and ancestors. However, from an empirical perspective, common ancestors are inferences based on a cladistic hypothesis of relationships of taxa whose character states can be observed. Theoretically, a last common ancestor and all its descendants constitute a (minimal) clade. Importantly, all descendants stay in their overarching ancestral clade. For example, if the terms ''worms'' or ''fishes'' were used within a ''strict'' cladistic framework, these terms would include humans. Many of these terms are normally used paraphyletically, outside of cladistics, e.g. as a 'grade', which are fruitless to precisely delineate, especially when including extinct species. R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antorbital Fenestra
An antorbital fenestra (plural: fenestrae) is an opening in the skull that is in front of the eye sockets. This skull character is largely associated with archosauriforms, first appearing during the Triassic Period. Among extant archosaurs, birds still possess antorbital fenestrae, whereas crocodylians have lost them. The loss in crocodylians is believed to be related to the structural needs of their skulls for the bite force and feeding behaviours that they employ.Preushscoft, H., Witzel, U. 2002. Biomechanical Investigations on the Skulls of Reptiles and Mammals. Senckenbergiana Lethaea 82:207–222.Rayfield, E.J., Milner, A.C., Xuan, V.B., Young, P.G. 2007. Functional Morphology of Spinosaur "Crocodile Mimic" Dinosaurs. JVP. 27(4):892–901. In some archosaur species, the opening has closed but its location is still marked by a depression, or fossa, on the surface of the skull called the antorbital fossa. The antorbital fenestra houses a paranasal sinus that is confluent with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
