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Gnathosaurus Macrurus
''Gnathosaurus'' (meaning "jawed lizard") is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur containing two species: ''G. subulatus'', named in 1833 from the Solnhofen Limestone of Germany, and ''G. macrurus'', known from the Purbeck Limestone of the UK. Its fossil remains dated back to the Late Jurassic period. History of discovery Fragments of ''Gnathosaurus'' jaws were first discovered in 1832 in the Solnhofen limestones of southern Germany but were mistaken for a piece of teleosaurid crocodile jaw by Georg zu Münster, who first named the species ''Crocodilus multidens'' in that year. Soon afterwards, Hermann von Meyer classified the same specimen as the new genus and species ''Gnathosaurus subulatus'', a name which came to be universally used shortly thereafter. In the 1860s, scientists such as Albert Oppel compared the ''G. subulatus'' jaw fragment to contemporary pterosaurs such as ''Pterodactylus'' and ''Ctenochasma'', and concluded that it was also probably a "flying reptile" rat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time scale, geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum, strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age. In the past, ''Malm'' was also used to indicate the unit of geological time, but this usage is now discouraged to make a clear distinction between lithostratigraphic and geochronologic/chronostratigraphic units. Subdivisions The Late Jurassic is divided into three ages, which correspond with the three (faunal) stages of Upper Jurassic rock: Paleogeography During the Late Jurassic Epoch, Pangaea broke up into two supercontinents, Laurasia to the north, and Gondwana to the south. The result of this break-up was the emergence of the Atlantic Ocean, which initially was relatively narrow. Life forms This epoch is well known for many famous types of d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spoonbill
Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill. Six species are recognised, which although usually placed in a single genus have sometimes been split into three genera. All spoonbills have large, flat, spatulate bills and feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly opened bill from side to side. The moment any small aquatic creature touches the inside of the bill—an insect, crustacean, or tiny fish—it is snapped shut. Spoonbills generally prefer fresh water to salt but are found in both environments. They need to feed many hours each day. Taxonomy The genus ''Platalea'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feilongus
''Feilongus'' is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian–Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Beipiao, Liaoning, China. Discovery and naming The genus was named and described in 2005 by Wang Xiaolin, Alexander Kellner, Zhou Zhonghe and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. The type species is ''Feilongus youngi''. The genus name is derived from '' Feilong'', the "flying dragon". The specific name honors the Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhongjian (C. C. Young). ''Feilongus'' is based on holotype IVPP V-12539, a skull and articulated mandible, with on the same plate the detached posterior braincase, of a subadult individual. The fossil is strongly crushed. In 2014, a second specimen, DNMHM D3068 found at Gonggao, was referred to a ''Feilongus'' sp. It consists of a skull with lower jaws and four neck vertebrae. It was a possible subadult or, despite a smaller size, adult. Description The wingspan of ''Feilongus'' was estimated by Wan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gladocephaloideus
''Gladocephaloideus'' is a genus of ctenochasmatid Ctenochasmatoidea, ctenochasmatoid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (early Aptian stage) of what is now western Liaoning, China. Discovery ''Gladocephaloideus'' is known from a complete skull and partial postcranial skeleton including traces of hair-like pycnofibres. It was collected from the Yixian Formation, Jingangshan Bed of the Yixian Formation, dating to the early Aptian stage, about 121 mya (unit), million years ago. It was named by Lü Junchang, Ji Qiang, Wei Xuefang and Liu Yongqing in 2012 in paleontology, 2012 and the type species is ''Gladocephaloideus jingangshanensis''. The generic name is derived from Latin ''gladius'', "sword", and Greek κεφαλή, ''kephalè'', "head", en εἶδος, ''eidos'', "form", referring to the elongated form of the skull. The specific name (zoology), specific name refers to the provenance from the Jiangangshan. The holotype, IG-CAGS-08-07, includes the almost complete sku ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forfexopterus
''Forfexopterus'' (meaning "scissor wings") is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in China. It contains a single species, ''F. jeholensis'', named from a mostly complete skeleton by Shunxing Jiang and colleagues in 2016. A second specimen, consisting of a wing, was described in 2020. While the first specimen is larger, it shows signs of being less mature than the second specimen, indicating that the developmental trajectories of ''Forfexopterus'' were variable. Like other ctenochasmatids, ''Forfexopterus'' had a long, low skull filled with many slender teeth; unlike other members of the group, however, it did not have a spatula-shaped snout tip or crests, and its teeth were more curved. A single characteristic distinguishes ''Forfexopterus'' from all other members of the wider group Archaeopterodactyloidea: of the four phalanx bones in its wing finger, the first was shorter than the second but longer than the third. Discovery and nami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elanodactylus
''Elanodactylus'' (meaning "Kite finger") is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (early Aptian stage) of what is now the Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. Discovery and naming The genus was named in 2008 by Brian Andres and Ji Qiang. The type species is ''Elanodactylus prolatus''. The generic name is derived from the Kite genus ''Elanus'', in reference to the long wings, and Greek ''daktylos'', "finger", referring to the wing finger of pterosaurs. The specific name means "elongated" in Latin, in reference to the elongated middle cervical vertebrae. It is known from a partial postcranial skeleton, holotype NGMC 99-07-1, preserving the wings, sternum, shoulder girdle, ribs, cervical and dorsal vertebrae. It represents an adult individual. In 2010, a second adult was described, specimen LPM-R00078, also a skeleton lacking the skull. Description The wingspan of the holotype was about , and it is estimated to have weighed . The f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ardeadactylus
''Ardeadactylus'' (from ''Ardea'' – meaning "heron", and also a name of Ardea (genus), a genus of herons – and ''dactylus'', meaning "finger") is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatoid pterosaur known from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, southern Germany. It contains a single species, ''Ardeadactylus longicollum'', which was originally thought to be a species of ''Pterodactylus'', as ''P. longicollum''. History Only two specimens of ''Ardeadactylus'' are known to exist currently: SMNS 56603 (earlier SMNS 5802) found in 1874, a specimen from Nusplingen initially thought to belong to the species ''Pterodactylus suevicus'' (currently ''Cycnorhamphus''), and the neotype of the species, JME-SOS 2428, a specimen held at Jura Museum in Eichstätt. Other known specimens, including the holotype designated by Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer when he named the type species ''Pterodactylus longicollum'' in 1854,Meyer, C.E.H. von, 1854, "Mittheilungen an Professor Bronn: An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huanhepterus
''Huanhepterus'' is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of what is now Qingyang, Gansu, China. History The genus was named by Dong Zhiming in 1982. The type species is ''Huanhepterus quingyangensis''. The genus name refers to the Huang Jian (not the Yellow River or "Huang He", 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. ''Huanhepterus'' is based on the holotype specimen, 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. IVPP V9070 hails from the Early Cretaceous-age Hanhe-Huachi Formation of the Zhidan Group. Description ''Huanhepterus'' had a lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ctenochasmatidae
Ctenochasmatidae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. They are characterized by their distinctive teeth, which are thought to have been used for filter-feeding. Ctenochasmatids lived from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous periods. The earliest known ctenochasmatid remains date to the Late Jurassic Kimmeridgian age. Previously, a fossil jaw recovered from the Middle Jurassic Stonesfield Slate formation in the United Kingdom, was considered the oldest known. This specimen supposedly represented a member of the family Ctenochasmatidae,Buffetaut, E. and Jeffrey, P. (2012). "A ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Stonesfield Slate (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) of Oxfordshire, England." ''Geological Magazine'', (advance online publication) though further examination suggested it actually belonged to a teleosaurid stem-crocodilian instead of a pterosaur. Classification Below is cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tacuadactylus
''Tacuadactylus'' is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of Uruguay. Discovery and naming A snout found near Batoví was in 2016 reported as a saw fish, the oldest known member of the Pristidae. Subsequently, a CAT-scan showed that the presumed perpendicular teeth of the fossil were in fact sediment fillings of the tooth sockets, which themselves pointed obliquely to the front as with pterosaurs. In 2018, the specimen was described as the first pterosaur found in Uruguay but not yet named.Daniel Perea, Matías Soto, Pablo Toriño, Valeria Mesa & John G. Maisey, (2018), "A Late Jurassic-?earliest Cretaceous ctenochasmatid (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea): The first report of pterosaurs from Uruguay", ''Journal of South American Earth Sciences'' 85: 298-306 In 2021, the type species ''Tacuadactylus luciae'' was named and described by Matías Soto, Felipe Montenegro, Pablo Toriño, Valeria Mesa and Daniel Perea. The generic name combines a reference to the lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to descendants, nor does it show how much they have changed, so many differing evolutionary trees can be consistent with the same cladogram. A cladogram uses lines that branch off in different directions ending at a clade, a group of organisms with a last common ancestor. There are many shapes of cladograms but they all have lines that branch off from other lines. The lines can be traced back to where they branch off. These branching off points represent a hypothetical ancestor (not an actual entity) which can be inferred to exhibit the traits shared among the terminal taxa above it. This hypothetical ancestor might then provide clues about the order of evolution of various features, adaptation, and other e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dakosaurus2
''Dakosaurus'' is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph within the family Metriorhynchidae that lived during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. It was large, with teeth that were serrated and compressed lateromedially (flattened from side to side). The genus was established by Friedrich August von Quenstedt in 1856 for an isolated tooth named ''Geosaurus maximus'' by Theodor Plieninger in 1846. ''Dakosaurus'' was a carnivore that spent much, if not all, of its life out at sea. The extent of its adaptation to a marine lifestyle means that it is most likely that it mated at sea, but since no eggs or nests have been discovered that have been referred to ''Dakosaurus'', whether it gave birth to live young at sea like dolphins and ichthyosaurs or came ashore like turtles is not known yet. The name ''Dakosaurus'' means "biter lizard", and is derived from the Greek ' ("biter") and -' ("lizard"). Discovery and species The type species ''Dakosaurus maximus'', meaning "greatest b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
