''Huaxiapterus'' (meaning " Hua Xia hinawing") is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of tapejarid pterodactyloid

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 ...

from the

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

-age

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eight ...

Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang,

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

, China. It is the second genus of tapejarid from this formation, after ''

Sinopterus ''Sinopterus'' (meaning "Chinese wing") was a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. It was first described and named by Wang Xiaolin and Zhou Zhonghe. ...

''. Three species are known (''H. jii'', "''H. corollatus''", and "''H. benxiensis''"), though they may not actually form a natural group with each other. It was first named by Lü Junchang and Yuan Chongxi.

Discovery

The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of ''Huaxiapterus'' is ''H. jii'', which is based on GMN-03-11-001, a nearly complete skeleton and skull. While it was initially separated from the closely related ''

'' by several characters including its larger size and larger crest, later studies showed that it was in fact more closely related to ''Sinopterus dongi'' than to either of the other two species of ''Huaxiapterus''. Some researchers have considered ''H. jii'' to be a species of ''Sinopterus'' for this reason, though a more thorough analysis has suggested it is slightly more primitive than ''Sinopterus''. The second species, "''H.''" ''corollatus'', is based on ZMNH M8131, another nearly complete skeleton from the same formation. The third species "''H.''" ''benxiensis'', based on specimen BXGM V0011, also comes from Liaoning. Because ''H. jii'' is the type species of its genus, and the other two species are not closely related to it, they will likely be renamed in the future. An additional species, ''H. atavismus'', was named in 2016 based on a small specimen XHPM 1009. It can be distinguished from other species by a groove on the second and third wing digits, a trait that is otherwise only known in the more basal rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs; it was named after this trait, which appears to be an atavism (or "evolutionary throwback"). However, this species was reassigned to the genus ''Sinopterus'' by Xinjun Zhang and colleagues in 2019, who also considered ''Huaxiapterus'' to be an invalid pterosaur genus.

Classification

The cladogram below follows the 2014 analysis by Brian Andres and colleagues, showing the placement of three ''Huaxiapterus'' species (''H. jii'', "''H.''" ''benxiensis'' and "''H.''" ''corollatus'') within the clade

Tapejaromorpha Tapejaromorpha is a group of pterosaurs within the clade Azhdarchoidea. The fossil remains of tapejaromorphs dated back to the Cretaceous period. The Tapejaromorpha was defined in 2014 by Andres and colleagues. They made Tapejaromorpha the most ...

. In 2019, a different analysis, this time by Alexander Kellner and colleagues, had recovered the ''Huaxiapterus'' species "''H.''" ''benxiensis'' and "''H.''" ''corollatus'' in a more derived position within the Tapejarinae, sister taxon to both ''

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 Junc ...

'' and ''Sinopterus''. The cladogram of their analysis is shown below:

References

External links

''Huaxiapterus''
in The Pterosauria

at The Grave Yard {{Taxonbar, from=Q988297 Early Cretaceous pterosaurs of Asia Tapejaromorphs Fossil taxa described in 2005 Taxa named by Lü Junchang Jiufotang fauna

Discovery

Classification

See also

References

External links