Jidapterus

Taxobox
name = "Jidapterus"
fossil_range = Early Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Pterosauria
subordo = Pterodactyloidea
superfamilia = Azhdarchoidea
familia = Chaoyangopteridae
genus = "Jidapterus"
genus_authority = Dong, Sun, & Wu, 2003
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "J. edentus" Dong, Sun, & Wu, 2003 (type)

"Jidapterus" (meaning "Jilin University wing") was a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. It is based on CAD-01, a nearly complete skeleton with partial skull. The skull is toothless and relatively long, with a straight beak, and a large hole where the antorbital fenestra is joined with the nostrils. The eye sockets are small, and there is no crest along the lower jaw as seen in ornithocheiroids, although a short projection was present at the back of the skull. The wingspan of this individual was estimated to be 1.7 m (5.58 ft).Dong Z., Sun Y., and Wu S. (2003). On a new pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Chaoyang Basin, Western Liaoning, China. "Global Geology" 22(1):1-7.] Its classification has been unstable; the original authors did not assign it to a group.Li, J., Lü, J., and Zhang, B. (2003). "A new Lower Cretaceous sinopterid pterosaur from the Western Liaoning, China." "Acta Palaeontologica Sinica" 42(3):442-447.] Some of the original authors later suggested it was a more basal azhdarchoid,J. Lü, and Q. Ji. (2006). [http://cactus.dixie.edu/jharris/Lu&Ji_ptero_phylogeny.pdf 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.] whereas another group suggested it was closer to "Pteranodon" and possibly the same genus as "Chaoyangopterus"Xiaolin Wang, Kellner, A.W.K., Zhonghe Zhou, and de Almeida Campos, D. (2005). Pterosaur diversity and faunal turnover in Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems in China. "Nature" 437:875-879.] David Unwin assigned it to Tapejaridae without comment in "The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time",Unwin, D.M. (2006). "The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time". Pi Press:New York, p. 273. ISBN 0-13-146308-X.] but later, in a collaboration with Lü, agreed that it was a basal azhdarchoid and close relative of "Chaoyangopterus" and placed both in the new family Chaoyangopteridae.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",]

References

External links

* [http://www.pterosaur.co.uk/species/LCP/Azhdarch/Jidapterus.htm "Jidapterus"] in The Pterosaur Database
* [http://archosauria.org/pterosauria/taxonomy/genera/jidapterus.html "Jidapterus"] in The Pterosauria