Huanhepterus
Encyclopedia
Huanhepterus is an extinct genus
of ctenochasmatid
pterodactyloid pterosaur
from the Late Jurassic
-age Huachihuanhe Formation of Qingyang
, Gansu
, China
.
The genus was named by Dong Zhiming
in 1982. The type species
is Huanhepterus quingyangensis. The genus name refers to the river Huanhe (not the Yellow River or Huanhe, but a smaller tributary of the Jinghe River in Gansu), and combines it with a Latinized Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name refers to Qinyang County.
It is based on holotype
IVPP V9070
, a partial articulated skeleton consisting mostly of impressions of the left half of the body and the beak
-end of the skull. The fossil
was in May 1978 found in a quarry operated by the Sanshilipu
-commune, when an explosion exposed a vertebra. Its force obliterated the right half of the specimen.
Huenhepterus had a long, low skull, with a low crest running along the midline that was higher toward the tip of the snout and became smaller toward the eyes. The teeth, about 26 pairs in the upper and 25 in the lower jaws, were slender and numerous, and became shorter farther from the 11th pair, both to the front as to the back, where they become absent completely in posterior part of the snout. The cervical
vertebrae were long, as were the toes, and there was no fused complex of the front dorsal vertebrae (notarium
), as seen in other pterosaurs. The wingspan
of the type individual was estimated at 2.5 m (8.2 ft). This genus was described as most like Gnathosaurus
. David Unwin later referred it the Gnathosaurinae, a subgroup of the Ctenochasmatidae.
Like Gnathosaurus, it may have used its tightly-packed, slender teeth to filter food from water.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of ctenochasmatid
Ctenochasmatidae
Ctenochasmatidae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea.-Classification:Listing of subfamilies and genera after Unwin 2006 unless otherwise noted.* Family Ctenochasmatidae** Elanodactylus** Gegepterus...
pterodactyloid pterosaur
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
from the Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 161.2 ± 4.0 to 145.5 ± 4.0 million years ago , which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age...
-age Huachihuanhe Formation of Qingyang
Qingyang
Qingyang is a prefecture-level city in China's Gansu province.-Geography and climate:Qingyang is in eastern Gansu province and is sometimes referred to in Chinese as "Longdong" . Ningxia province is to the north west and Shaanxi is to the east. It is in the lower middle part of the Yellow River on...
, Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
The genus was named by Dong Zhiming
Dong Zhiming
Dong Zhiming , from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, is one of China's leading paleontologists. He began working at the IVPP in 1962, learning from Yang Zhongjian who was director at the time...
in 1982. The type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
is Huanhepterus quingyangensis. The genus name refers to the river Huanhe (not the Yellow River or Huanhe, but a smaller tributary of the Jinghe River in Gansu), and combines it with a Latinized Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name refers to Qinyang County.
It is based on holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
IVPP V9070
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of China is a prominent research institution and collections repository for fossils, including many dinosaur and pterosaurand cat poo specimens...
, a partial articulated skeleton consisting mostly of impressions of the left half of the body and the beak
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
-end of the skull. The fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
was in May 1978 found in a quarry operated by the Sanshilipu
Sanshilipu
Sanshilipu is a township-level division situated in Fuyang, Anhui, China....
-commune, when an explosion exposed a vertebra. Its force obliterated the right half of the specimen.
Huenhepterus had a long, low skull, with a low crest running along the midline that was higher toward the tip of the snout and became smaller toward the eyes. The teeth, about 26 pairs in the upper and 25 in the lower jaws, were slender and numerous, and became shorter farther from the 11th pair, both to the front as to the back, where they become absent completely in posterior part of the snout. The cervical
Neck
The neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...
vertebrae were long, as were the toes, and there was no fused complex of the front dorsal vertebrae (notarium
Notarium
Notarium is a term used for the fused vertebra of the shoulder in birds and some pterosaurs. The structure helps brace the chest against the forces generated by the wings. In birds, the vertebrae are only in contact with adjacent vertebrae and ribs, while in some pterosaurs the notarium...
), as seen in other pterosaurs. The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
of the type individual was estimated at 2.5 m (8.2 ft). This genus was described as most like Gnathosaurus
Gnathosaurus
Gnathosaurus is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur known from a single species, G. subulatus, described in 1833. This pterosaur had an estimated wingspan of about 1.7 meters. The slender, 28-cm-long skull had up to 130 needle-like teeth arranged laterally around the spoon-shaped tip...
. David Unwin later referred it the Gnathosaurinae, a subgroup of the Ctenochasmatidae.
Like Gnathosaurus, it may have used its tightly-packed, slender teeth to filter food from water.
External links
- Huanhepterus in The Pterosauria