Eopteranodon
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| Eopteranodon Fossil range: Early Cretaceous |
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Eopteranodon (meaning "dawn Pteranodon (toothless wing)") is a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Beipaio City, Liaoning, China. It is based on the specimen BPV-078, an incomplete skeleton and skull. Its skull, including a large crest, was toothless and similar to that of Pteranodon. The skull was less than 200 millimeters long (7.9 inches), and the animal had a wingspan of about 1.1 meters (3.6 feet). Despite its similarities to Pteranodon, Eopteranodon was not placed into a family by its describers, who put it into the clade Pteranodontia as incertae sedis (uncertain position).[1] Shortly thereafter, a phylogenetic study of all known Yixian pterosaurs by the same scientists found it to be close to the azhdarchoids, noted for the crested genera Tapejara and Tupuxuara, and the giant, long-necked Quetzalcoatlus.[2] The discovery of more primitive azhdarchoids helped the original authors, along with David Unwin, to place it in the clade Chaoyangopteridae.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Lü, J.C.; and B.K. Zhang (2005). "New pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning". Geological Review 51 (4): 458–462.
- ^ Lü, Junchang; and Qiang 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.
- ^ 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,
[edit] External links
- Eopteranodon in The Pterosaur Database
- Eopteranodon in The Pterosauria
