Pterorhynchus

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Pterorhynchus
Fossil range: Late Jurassic

Extinct (fossil)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Pterosauria
Suborder:	Rhamphorhynchoidea
Family:	Rhamphorhynchidae
Genus:	Pterorhynchus Czerkas and Ji, 2002

Binomial name

Pterorhynchus wellnhoferi
Czerkas and Ji, 2002

Pterorhynchus (meaning "wing snout", in reference to its tall head crest) was a genus of rhamphorhynchid rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic-age Daohugou Formation^[1] of Inner Mongolia, China. It is based on CAGS02-IG-gausa-2/M 608, an articulated, nearly-complete skeleton with impressions of the integument. Included were wing membrane impressions, hair-like structures, a long version of the structure found at the end of rhamphorhynchoid tails, and a head crest with both a bony base and a large soft-tissue extension; the latter feature is unusual in rhamphorhynchoids, which usually lacked head crests. The type individual had a skull 11.8 cm (4.65 in) long, and a wingspan of about 85 cm (33.46 in).^[2] David Unwin's recent book The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time regarded it as a Cretaceous genus,^[3] but this was based on old information. He also suggested that it was a scaphognathine.^[4]

[edit] References

^ Wang Xiaolin, Zhou Zhonghe, He Huaiyu, Jin Fan, Wang Yuanqing, Zhang Jiangyong, Wang Yuan, Xu Xing and Zhang Fucheng. (2005). Stratigraphy and age of the Daohugou Bed in Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia. Chinese Science Bulletin 50(20):2369-2376.
^ Czerkas, S.A., and Ji, Q. (2002). A new rhamphorhynchoid with a headcrest and complex integumentary structures. In: Czerkas, S.J. (Ed.). Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origin of Flight. The Dinosaur Museum:Blanding, Utah, 15-41. ISBN 1-93207-501-1.
^ Unwin, D.M. (2006). The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time. Pi Press:New York, p. 53. ISBN 0-13-146308-X.
^ Unwin, D.M. (2006). The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time. Pi Press:New York, p. 272. ISBN 0-13-146308-X.