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Wukongopterus

Genus of wukongopterid pterosaur from the Jurassic period

Wukongopterus
Summary

Genus of wukongopterid pterosaur from the Jurassic period

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.

Discovery and naming

Restoration

The genus was described and named in 2009 by Wang Xiaolin, Alexander Kellner, Jiang Shunxing and Meng Xi. The genus name is derived from Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, the main hero of the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West, and a Latinized Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name honours Li Yutong, senior preparator of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP).

The genus is based on holotype IVPP V15113, a nearly complete but compressed skeleton lacking the back and middle of the skull. The type individual appears to have broken its shin during life. Its wingspan is estimated at 730 mm. Wukongopterus also may have had an uropatagium, a membrane between the hind legs.

Classification

Below is a cladogram following Wang et al. (2017)

References

References

  1. Wang X.. (2009). "An unusual long-tailed pterosaur with elongated neck from western Liaoning of China". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências.
  2. (2017). "New evidence from China for the nature of the pterosaur evolutionary transition". Scientific Reports.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

monofenestrata jurassic-pterosaurs-of-asia fossil-taxa-described-in-2009 taxa-named-by-alexander-kellner sun-wukong pterosaur-genera
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