Wukongopteridae

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Wukongopterids
Temporal range:
Middle Jurassic-Late Jurassic, 164–153  Ma
Darwinopterus.jpg
Fossil specimen of Darwinopterus modularis
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Clade: Darwinoptera
Family: Wukongopteridae
Wang et al., 2009
Type species
Wukongopterus lii
Wang et al., 2009
Genera

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, [1]

The Wukongopteridae were first named by Wang et al. in 2009, not yet giving an exact definition. [2] The clade Wukongopteridae was first defined by Wang et al. in 2010 as "the most recent common ancestor of Wukongopterus lii and Kunpengopterus sinensis , and all of its descendants". [3]

Description

Restoration of Wukongopterus lii Wukongopterus NT.jpg
Restoration of Wukongopterus lii

Wukongopterids are characterized by a unique combination of "primitive" and advanced pterosaurian features. While they had long tails and other features characteristic of other "rhamphorhynchoids", they also had distinct pterodactyloid features, such as long vertebrae in the neck and a single skull opening in front of the eyes, the nasoantorbital fenestra (in most "rhamphorhynchoids", the antorbital fenestra and the nasal opening are separate). [3] This feature lead to Darwinopterus modularis being placed by Lü e.a. in a new clade of pterosaurs, the Monofenestrata, or "with a single opening", forming this group together with the true Pterodactyloidea, to the exclusion of the Rhamphorhynchidae and other more primitive pterosaurs which had separate nasal and antorbital fenestrae. However, according to Wang e.a. it is equally possible that the Wukongopteridae formed a more basal group, below the Rhamphorhynchidae. [3]

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<i>Kunpengopterus</i> Genus of wukongopterid pterosaur from the Jurassic period

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.

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Douzhanopterus is an extinct genus of monofenestratan pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of Liaoning, China. It contains a single species, D. zhengi, named by Wang et al. in 2017. In many respects, it represents a transitional form between basal pterosaurs and the more specialized pterodactyloids; for instance, its tail is intermediate in length, still being about twice the length of the femur but relatively shorter compared to that of the more basal Wukongopteridae. Other intermediate traits include the relative lengths of the neck vertebrae and the retention of two, albeit reduced, phalanx bones in the fifth digit of the foot. Phylogenetically, Douzhanopterus is nested between the wukongopterids and a juvenile pterosaur specimen from Germany known as the "Painten pro-pterodactyloid", which is similar to Douzhanopterus in many respects but approaches pterodactyloids more closely elsewhere.

References

  1. Lü J.; Unwin D.M.; Jin X.; Liu Y.; Ji Q. (2010). "Evidence for modular evolution in a long-tailed pterosaur with a pterodactyloid skull". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 277 (1680): 383–389. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1603. PMC   2842655 . PMID   19828548.
  2. 1 2 3 Wang, Xiaolin; Kellner, Alexander W.A.; Jiang, Shunxing; Cheng, Xin; Meng, Xi & Rodrigues, Taissa (2010). "New long-tailed pterosaurs (Wukongopteridae) from western Liaoning, China" (PDF). Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 82 (4): 1045–1062. doi: 10.1590/S0001-37652010000400024 . PMID   21152776.