Jidapterus

Jidapterus
Temporal range: Aptian, 122.1 Ma
↓
Holotype specimen RCPS-030366CY
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Order:†Pterosauria
Suborder:†Pterodactyloidea
Family:†Chaoyangopteridae
Genus:†Jidapterus
Dong, Sun & Wu, 2003
Species: †J. edentus
Binomial name
Jidapterus edentus
Dong, Sun & Wu, 2003

Jidapterus is a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid 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 Latinised Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name means "toothless" in Latin.

Jaws of the holotype

The genus 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 1.7 m (5.58 ft).[1] Its classification has been unstable; the original authors did not assign it to a group.[2] Some of the original authors later suggested it was a more basal azhdarchoid,[3] whereas another group suggested it was closer to Pteranodon and possibly the same genus as Chaoyangopterus.[4] David Unwin assigned it to Tapejaridae without comment in The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time,[5] but later, in a collaboration with Lü, agreed that it belonged to another azhdarchoid group and was a close relative of Chaoyangopterus, placing both in the new family Chaoyangopteridae.[6] A redescription of the genus in 2017 corroborated these results, and also presented evidence distinguishing it from Chaoyangopterus.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dong Z., Sun Y., and Wu S. (2003). On a new pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Chaoyang Basin, Western Liaoning, China. Global Geology 22(1):1-7.
  2. ↑ Li, J., Lü, J., and Zhang, B. (2003). "A new Lower Cretaceous sinopterid pterosaur from the Western Liaoning, China." Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 42(3):442-447.
  3. ↑ J. Lü, and Q. Ji. (2006). Preliminary results of a phylogenetic analysis of the pterosaurs from western Liaoning and surrounding area. Journal of the Paleontological Society of Korea 22(1):239-261.
  4. ↑ Xiaolin Wang, Kellner, A.W.K., Zhonghe Zhou, and de Almeida Campos, D. (2005). Pterosaur diversity and faunal turnover in Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems in China. Nature 437:875-879.
  5. ↑ Unwin, D.M. (2006). The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time. Pi Press:New York, p. 273. ISBN 0-13-146308-X.
  6. ↑ Lü, J., Unwin, D.M., Xu, L., and Zhang, X. (2008). "A new azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China and its implications for pterosaur phylogeny and evolution." Naturwissenschaften
  7. ↑ Wu, W.-H.; Zhou, C.-F.; Andres, B. (2017). "The toothless pterosaur Jidapterus edentus (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota and its paleoecological implications". PLoS ONE. 12 (9): e0185486. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185486.
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