''Yixianopterus'' is a

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Yixian Formation The Yixian Formation (; formerly transcribed as Yihsien Formation) is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans the late Barremian and early Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous. It is known for its ex ...

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 China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It is known from a single specimen,

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 ...

JZMP-V-12, housed at the Benxi Geological Museum. This specimen was doctored before acquisition, with much of the skull being fabricated.

Classification

Lü ''et al.'' (2006) assigned ''Yixianopterus'' to the lophocratian family Lonchodectidae on the basis of dental characters, classifying it as the first Asian representative of Lonchodectidae. Martill (2011) considered it potentially related to his new taxon ''

Unwindia ''Unwindia'' is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Albian stage) of what is now modern-day Brazil. Discovery and naming The German State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe obtained a pterosaur fossil from an ...

'', and Witton (2013) assigned it to the family Ornithocheiridae.Witton, Mark P. (2013). ''Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. A reappraisal of the holotype specimen and phylogenetic analysis by Jiang ''et al.'' (2020) recovered ''Yixianopterus'' as a basal member of the clade

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 ...

References

{{Portal bar, Paleontology, Cretaceous, China Early Cretaceous pterosaurs of Asia Yixian fauna Fossil taxa described in 2006 Taxa named by Lü Junchang Pteranodontoids