Lower Cretaceous Period

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Longchengpterus zhaoi

 

Ornithosaurian Pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian in the  Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China.

Wang, L., Li, L., Duan, Y. and Cheng, S. L. A new istiodactylid pterosaur from western Liaoning, China. Geological Bulletin of China, 25, 737-740.

Abstract：A new istiodactylid pterosaur, Longchengpterus zhaoi gen. et sp. nov., is erected, based on an incomplete skeleton with a part of skull from the Jiufotang Formation at Chaoyang, western Liaoning. The skull and tooth morphologies indicate that Longchengpterus zhaoi is more closely related to Istiodactylus latidens than to other pterosaurs. Longchengpterus zhaoi is the only istiodactylid pterosaur from the Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning. The family Istiodactylid originally had only a genus and species, which was found in the Early Cretaceous strata of Britain. The discovery of the new Early Cretaceous istiodactylid from western Liaoning not only expands its geographical distribution but also proves that western Liaoning is an important region for the istiodactylid radiation and diversity during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. It has great implications for the study of the origin and evolution of pterosaurs.
Keywords：Longchengpterus; Istiodactylidae; Jiufotang Formation; Early Cretaceous; western Liaoning