Kunpengopterus Temporal range: Middle?-Late Jurassic, | |
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Referred specimen of K. sinensis | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | † Pterosauria |
Family: | † Wukongopteridae |
Genus: | † Kunpengopterus Wang et al., 2010 |
Type species | |
†Kunpengopterus sinensis Wang et al., 2010 | |
Other species | |
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Kunpengopterus is a genus of wukongopterid pterosaur from the middle-late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of northeastern China. The genus contains two species, the type species K. sinensis and K. antipollicatus.
K. sinensis is known from the holotype specimen IVPP V16047, an almost complete skeleton with complete skull and lower jaws recovered from rocks of the Tiaojishan Formation in Linglongta, Jianchang County, western Liaoning. The age of these layers is controversial. This compression fossil is of an adult individual. Aside from the bones some soft parts were also preserved and the remains of a possibly regurgitated fish. [1]
Kunpengopterus was named and described by Wang Xiaolin, Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner, Jiang Shunxing, Cheng Xin, Meng Xi and Taissa Rodrigues in 2010. The type species is Kunpengopterus sinensis. The generic name combines the Kun, a large fish or whale from Chinese folklore that could transform itself into the Peng, a gigantic colourful bird providing a mythological explanation of the northern lights, with a Latinised Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name refers to the Chinese origin. [1]
In 2017, an additional specimen, IVPP V 23674, was referred and described. It consists of a skeleton with skull. [2]
A second species of Kunpengopterus was described in 2021 by Xuanyu Zhou and colleagues, Kunpengopterus antipollicatus. The specific name is from the Ancient Greek anti "opposite" and pollex "thumb", and refers to the opposed first finger (a thumb) on the wing. [3]
Kunpengopterus has an elongated head, 106.9 millimetres long. The cervical vertebrae too are relatively long. The naris is confluent with the antorbital fenestra, but these large openings are still partly separated by a broad and anteriorly directed processus nasalis which has itself a small vertical tear-shaped opening. A low bony crest is present on the skull, just behind the eyes; preserved soft tissue shows it was elongated by cartilage and a yellow discolouration indicates it was perhaps enlarged to the back by a skin flap. There is no sign of a crest on the snout or of a keel under the lower jaws. The back of the skull is rounded. Kunpengopterus has a long stiff tail. The fifth toe is also long and strongly curved. [1]
K. antipollicatus has an opposable pollux or thumb, which is rare amongst non-mammals. [3] [4]
The first Kunpengopterus specimen in which sex could be confidently identified was specimen ZMNH M8802 in the collections of the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, nicknamed "Mrs T" (short for "Mrs Pterodactyl"), originally described by Lü Junchang and colleagues in January 2011 as a specimen of Darwinopterus . In 2015, Wang e.a. reassigned the "Mrs T" specimen to Kunpengopterus, [5] and in 2021 it was classified as a specimen of the new species Kunpengopterus antipollicatus. This specimen was preserved with the impression of an egg between its thighs in close association with its pelvis. This specimen had a broad pelvis and lacked any evidence of a crest. The egg was probably expelled from the body during decomposition, and its association with the Kunpengopterus individual was used to support the hypothesis of sexual dimorphism. [6]
However, this hypothesis has been criticized. Pterosaur researcher Kevin Padian questioned some of the conclusions drawn by Lü et al., suggesting in a 2011 interview that, in other animals with elaborate display crests (such as ceratopsian dinosaurs), the size and shape of the crests change dramatically with age. He noted that the "Mrs T" specimen may simply have been a sub-adult which had not yet developed a crest (most animals are able to reproduce before they are fully grown). [6] Furthermore, a rigorous analysis of wukongopterid variation published in 2017 noted that crests among wukongopterids were subject to a large amount of individual variation, and that there was no consistent dimorphism in the pelvic anatomy of crested and uncrested wukongopterid specimens. [7]
The specimen preserved along with an egg (nicknamed "Mrs T"), described by Lü and colleagues in 2011, offers insight into the reproductive strategies of Kunpengopterus and pterosaurs in general. [8] Like the eggs of later pterosaurs and modern reptiles, [9] the eggs of Kunpengopterus had a parchment-like, soft shell. [6] In modern birds, the eggshell is hardened with calcium, completely shielding the embryo from the outside environment. Soft-shelled eggs are permeable, and allow significant amounts of water to be absorbed into the egg during development. Eggs of this type are more vulnerable to the elements and are typically buried in soil. The eggs of Kunpengopterus would have weighed about 6 grams (0.21 oz) when they were laid, but due to moisture intake, they may have doubled in weight by the time of hatching. [6] The eggs were small compared to the size of the mother (the "Mrs T" specimen weighed between 110 grams [3.9 oz] and 220 grams [7.8 oz] [6] ), also more like modern reptiles than birds. David Unwin, a co-author of the paper, suggested that Kunpengopterus probably laid many small eggs at a time and buried them, and that juveniles could fly upon hatching, requiring little to no parental care. [6] These results imply that reproduction in pterosaurs was more like that in modern reptiles and significantly differed from reproduction in birds. [8] However, in 2015, the counterplate of the specimen was reported, IVPP V18403, which showed a single additional egg present in the body, indicating that there were two active ovaries, producing a single egg at a time. [5]
Kunpengopterus was assigned to the Wukongopteridae, a family of pterosaurs showing a mix of basal and derived pterodactyloid traits. [1] The cladogram below is reproduced from Zhou et al. (2021) and includes both species of Kunpengopterus: [3]
Monofenestrata |
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Feilongus is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian–Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Beipiao, Liaoning, China.
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Shenzhoupterus is a genus of chaoyangopterid pterosaur from the Jiufotang Formation of modern-day Liaoning, China. Fossil remains of Shenzhoupterus date back to the Early Cretaceous period, approximately 120 million years ago.
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The Tiaojishan Formation is a geological formation in Hebei and Liaoning, People's Republic of China, dating to the middle-late Jurassic period. It is known for its exceptionally preserved fossils, including those of plants, insects and vertebrates. It is made up mainly of pyroclastic rock interspersed with basic volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Previously, the Tiaojishan Formation was grouped together with the underlying Haifanggou Formation as a single "Lanqi Formation." The Tiaojishan Formation forms a key part of the Yanliao Biota assemblage, alongside the Haifanggou Formation.
Darwinopterus is a genus of pterosaur, discovered in China and named after biologist Charles Darwin. Between 30 and 40 fossil specimens have been identified, all collected from the Tiaojishan Formation, which dates to the middle Jurassic period, 160.89–160.25 Ma ago. The type species, D. modularis, was described in February 2010. D. modularis was the first known pterosaur to display features of both long-tailed (rhamphorhynchoid) and short-tailed (pterodactyloid) pterosaurs, and was described as a transitional fossil between the two groups. Two additional species, D. linglongtaensis and D. robustodens, were described from the same fossil beds in December 2010 and June 2011, respectively.
Wukongopterus is a genus of basal pterosaur, found in Liaoning, China, from the Tiaojishan Formation, of the Middle or Late Jurassic. It was unusual for having both an elongate neck and a long tail.
Wukongopteridae is a group of basal pterosaurs, found in China and the UK. It contains eight species in five genera, all dated to the Middle to Late Jurassic period,
Archaeoistiodactylus is an extinct genus of wukongopterid pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China.
Jianchangnathus is an extinct genus of basal pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of northeastern China.
Guidraco is an extinct genus of toothed pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province, northeast China. According to many recent studies, Guidraco is a member of the group Anhanguerinae, a subfamily belonging to the larger group Anhangueridae.
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Ikrandraco is a genus of lonchodraconid pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of northeastern China, and the Cambridge Greensand of England. It is notable for its unusual skull, which features a crest on the lower jaw.
Daohugoupterus is a genus of pterosaur from the Middle to Late Jurassic Daohugou Beds of the Tiaojishan Formation in Inner Mongolia, China.
This timeline of pterosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and taxonomic revisions of pterosaurs, the famed flying reptiles of the Mesozoic era. Although pterosaurs went extinct millions of years before humans evolved, humans have coexisted with pterosaur fossils for millennia. Before the development of paleontology as a formal science, these remains would have been interpreted through a mythological lens. Myths about thunderbirds told by the Native Americans of the modern Western United States may have been influenced by observations of Pteranodon fossils. These thunderbirds were said to have warred with water monsters, which agrees well with the co-occurrence of Pteranodon and the ancient marine reptiles of the seaway over which it flew.
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