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Largest Toothed Pterosaur Skull from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning, China, with Comments on the Family Boreopteridae
Author(s) -
Junchang LÜ,
Hanyong PU,
Li XU,
Yanhua WU,
Xuefang WEI
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
acta geologica sinica ‐ english edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1755-6724
pISSN - 1000-9515
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2012.00658.x
Subject(s) - skull , yixian formation , anatomy , crest , cervical vertebrae , cretaceous , paleontology , biology , mesozoic , physics , structural basin , quantum mechanics
A new pterosaur Moganopterus zhuiana gen. et sp. nov. is erected based on a complete skull with lower jaws and anterior cervical vertebrae. It is characterized by much elongated upper and lower jaws with at least 62 total, long, curved teeth with sharp tips, a well developed parietal crest extending posterodorsally, forming an angle of 15 degrees with the ventral margin of the skull, the ratio of length to width of cervical vertebrae greater than 5:1. The skull length is 750 mm, and it is the largest toothed pterosaur found so far in the world. Based on this new pterosaur, the Boreopteridae can be divided into two subgroups: Boreopterinae sub‐fam. nov. and Moganopterinae sub‐fam. nov., which is also confirmed by the phylogenetic analysis.