''Huaxiapterus'' (meaning "Huaxia, Hua Xia [China] wing") is a genus of Tapejaridae, tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. It is the second genus of tapejarid from this formation, after ''Sinopterus''. 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 of ''Huaxiapterus'' is ''H. jii'', which is holotype, based on GMN-03-11-001, a nearly complete skeleton and skull. While it was initially separated from the closely related ''Sinopterus'' 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 derived trait, basal rhamphorhynchoidea, 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. 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'' 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