Liaoxipterus on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''Liaoxipterus'' is a
The genus is based on
''Liaoxipterus''
in The Pterosauria {{Portal bar, Paleontology, Cretaceous, China Pteranodontoids Early Cretaceous pterosaurs of Asia Taxa named by Dong Zhiming Fossil taxa described in 2005 Taxa named by Lü Junchang Jiufotang fauna
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 pterodactyloid
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 ...
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 Barremian
The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is preceded ...
-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
The Jiufotang Formation ( Chinese: 九佛堂组, pinyin: ''jiǔfótáng zǔ'') is an Early Cretaceous geological formation in Chaoyang, Liaoning which has yielded fossils of feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, pterosaurs, and other organisms (see ...
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. 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 ...
is ''Liaoxipterus brachyognathus''. The genus name is derived from the discovery locality Liaoxi
Liaoxi () was a former province in Northeast China, located in what is now part of Liaoning and Jilin provinces. It existed from 1949 to 1954, and its capital was Jinzhou
Jinzhou (, ), formerly Chinchow, is a coastal prefecture-level city ...
and a Latinised Greek ''pteron'', "wing". The specific name is derived from Greek ''brachys'', "short" and ''gnathos'', "jaw".
Description
The genus is based on 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 ...
CAR-0018, an almost complete but crushed 161 millimetres long mandible
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...
(fused lower jaws), which differs from that of all known other ctenochasmatids in its short teeth
A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...
and low tooth count (eleven per side). Also a detached hyoid
The hyoid bone (lingual bone or tongue-bone) () is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. At rest, it lies between the base of the mandible and the third cervical vertebra. ...
is present.Dong, Z., and Lü, J. (2005). A New Ctenochasmatid Pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province. ''Acta Geologica Sinica'' 79(2):164-167.
The jaw of ''Liaoxipterus'' had a rounded top filled with small, peg-like teeth. The shape of the teeth, and the anatomy of the ''hyoid'' (a bone that anchors the tongue muscles), suggest that it was an insect eater, and may even have had the capability to protrude its tongue in a manner similar to chameleon
Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...
s in order to catch insects.
Classification
''Liaoxipterus'' was originally classified byDong Zhiming
Dong Zhiming (Chinese: 董枝明, Pinyin: ''Dǒng Zhimíng''; born January 1937) is a Chinese vertebrate paleontologist formerly employed at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing. He began working at the ...
and Lü Junchang
Lü Junchang (; 1965 – 9 October 2018) was a Chinese palaeontologist and professor at the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences. An expert on Mesozoic reptiles, he described and named dozens of dinosaur and pterosaur taxa ...
as a member of the Ctenochasmatidae
Ctenochasmatidae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. They are characterized by their distinctive teeth, which are thought to have been used for filter-feeding. Ctenochasmatids lived from the Late Jurassic to the Early C ...
. Wang and colleagues suggested in 2006 and 2008 that it was actually an istiodactylid
Istiodactylidae is a small family of pterosaurs. This family was named in 2001 after the type genus ''Istiodactylus'' was discovered not to be a member of the genus '' Ornithodesmus''.
Systematics and distribution
Remains of taxa that can be c ...
instead, an opinion that was accepted by Lü in 2015. In 2008 Lü concluded that ''Nurhachius
''Nurhachius'' is a genus of istiodactylid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian to Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. Its fossil remains date back about 120 million years ago.
Discovery
The g ...
'' was a subjective junior synonym
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...
of ''Liaoxipterus''.Lü, J., Xu, L. and Ji, Q. (2008), "Restudy of ''Liaoxipterus'' (Istiodactylidae: Pterosauria), with comments on the Chinese istiodactylid pterosaurs", In: Hone, D. W. E. and Buffetaut, E. (eds), ''Flugsaurier: pterosaur papers in honour of Peter Wellnhofer'', Zitteliana B28: 229–241 However, a 2012 analysis by Mark Witton found that these two istiodactylids were not identical and, more importantly, did not group together in a phylogenetic tree. Witton also noted that they did not actually group together in Lü's study either.
The 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 d ...
below follows Witton's 2012 analysis, wherein he found Istiodactylidae to consist of five taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
(the first three species listed are outgroup or reference taxa):
The cladogram below is a topology recovered by Kellner ''et al.'' (2019). In the analyses, they recovered ''Liaoxipterus'' as the sister taxon of ''Istiodactylus
''Istiodactylus'' is a genus of pterosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago. The first fossil was discovered on the English Isle of Wight in 1887, and in 1901 became the holotype specimen of a new species ...
'' within the family Istiodactylidae
Istiodactylidae is a small family of pterosaurs. This family was named in 2001 after the type genus ''Istiodactylus'' was discovered not to be a member of the genus ''Ornithodesmus''.
Systematics and distribution
Remains of taxa that can be co ...
, and placed within the more inclusive group Istiodactyliformes
Ornithocheiromorpha (from Ancient Greek, meaning "bird hand form") is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea
Pterodactyloidea (derived from the Greek words ''πτερόν'' (''pterón'', for usual ''ptéryx'') "wing", a ...
.
See also
*List of pterosaur genera
This list of pterosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Pterosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered inval ...
* Timeline of pterosaur research
This timeline of pterosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and taxonomic revisions of pterosaurs, the famed flying reptiles of the Mesozoic era. Although pterosaurs w ...
References
External links
''Liaoxipterus''
in The Pterosauria {{Portal bar, Paleontology, Cretaceous, China Pteranodontoids Early Cretaceous pterosaurs of Asia Taxa named by Dong Zhiming Fossil taxa described in 2005 Taxa named by Lü Junchang Jiufotang fauna