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Liaoxipterus Brachyognathus
''Liaoxipterus'' is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. The type species is ''Liaoxipterus brachyognathus''. The genus name is derived from the discovery locality Liaoxi and a Latinised Greek ''pteron'', "wing". The specific name is derived from Greek ''brachys'', "short" and ''gnathos'', "jaw". Description The genus is based on holotype CAR-0018, an almost complete but crushed 161 millimetres long mandible (fused lower jaws), which differs from that of all known other ctenochasmatids in its short teeth and low tooth count (eleven per side). Also a detached hyoid is present.Dong, Z., and Lü, J. (2005). A New Ctenochasmatid Pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province. ''Acta Geologica Sinica'' 79(2):164-167. The jaw of ''Liaoxipterus'' had a rounded top filled with small, peg-like teeth. The shape of the teeth, and the anatomy of the ''hyoid'' (a bone that anchors the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 Megaannum#SI prefix multipliers, Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Proposals for the exact age of the Barremian–Aptian boundary ranged from 126 to 117 Ma until recently (as of 2019), but based on drillholes in Svalbard the defining Anoxic event#Cretaceous, early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (OAE1a) was dated to 123.1±0.3 Ma, limiting the possible range for the boundary to c. 122–121 Ma. There is a possible link between this anoxic event and a series of Early Cretaceous large igneous provinces (LIP). The Ontong Java Plateau, Ontong Java-Manihiki Plateau, Manihiki-Hikurangi Plateau, Hikurangi large igneous province, emplaced in the South Pacific at c. 120 Ma, is by far the largest LIP in Earth's history. The Onto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teeth
A tooth (: teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tearing food, for defensive purposes, to intimidate other animals often including their own, or to carry prey or their young. The roots of teeth are covered by gums. Teeth are not made of bone, but rather of multiple tissues of varying density and hardness that originate from the outermost embryonic germ layer, the ectoderm. The general structure of teeth is similar across the vertebrates, although there is considerable variation in their form and position. The teeth of mammals have deep roots, and this pattern is also found in some fish, and in crocodilians. In most teleost fish, however, the teeth are attached to the outer surface of the bone, while in lizards they are attached to the inner surface of the jaw by one side. In cartilaginous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coloborhynchus Spielbergi
''Maaradactylus'' is a genus of anhanguerid pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Lower Cretaceous period (Aptian to Albian stages) of the Romualdo Formation of northeastern Brazil. Discovery ''Maaradactylus'' is based on the Museu Paleontologico de Santana do Cariri specimen MPSC R 2357, a skull, atlas, and axis discovered in 2010 in the Aptian—Albian-age Romualdo Formation of Sítio São Gonçalo, Santana do Cariri, Ceará, in the Araripe Basin of Brazil. ''Maaradactylus'' was described by Renan Bantim and colleagues in 2014. The type species is ''Maaradactylus kellneri''. The generic name refers to Maara, in the legends of the Cariri the daughter of a chief, by sorcery changed into a river monster with long teeth, devouring fishermen. The suffix ~''dactylus'' is common in the names of pterosaurs and is derived from Greek δάκτυλος, ''daktylos'', "finger", referring to the long (fourth) wing finger. The specific name honors Alexander Kellner, Brazil's fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pteranodon Longiceps
''Pteranodon'' (; from and ) is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of over . They lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota and Alabama. More fossil specimens of ''Pteranodon'' have been found than any other pterosaur, with about 1,200 specimens known to science, many of them well preserved with nearly complete skulls and articulated skeletons. It was an important part of the animal community in the Western Interior Seaway. When the first fossils of ''Pteranodon'' were found, they were assigned to toothed pterosaur genera, ''Ornithocheirus'' and ''Pterodactylus''. In 1876, Othniel Charles Marsh recognised it as a genus of its own, making particular note of its complete lack of teeth, which at the time was unique among pterosaurs. Over the decades, multiple species would be assigned to ''Pteranodon'', though today, o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pterodactylus Antiquus
''Pterodactylus'' (from ) is a genus of extinct pterosaurs. It is thought to contain only a single species, ''Pterodactylus antiquus'', which was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying reptile and one of the first prehistoric reptiles to ever be discovered. Fossil remains of ''Pterodactylus'' have primarily been found in the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, Germany, which dates from the Late Jurassic period (Tithonian stage), about 150.8 to 148.5 million years ago. More fragmentary remains of ''Pterodactylus'' have tentatively been identified from elsewhere in Europe and in Africa. ''Pterodactylus'' was a generalist carnivore that probably fed on a variety of invertebrates and vertebrates. Like all pterosaurs, ''Pterodactylus'' had wings formed by a skin and muscle membrane stretching from its elongated fourth finger to its hind limbs. It was supported internally by collagen fibres and externally by keratinous ridges. ''Pterodactylus'' was a small pterosa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Outgroup (cladistics)
In cladistics or phylogenetics, an outgroup is a more distantly related group of organisms that serves as a reference group when determining the evolutionary relationships of the ingroup, the set of organisms under study, and is distinct from sociological outgroups. Character states present in the ingroup but absent in the outgroup are (often) synapomorphies that provide empirical support for the inferred monophyly of the ingroup; character states that are present in the outgroup and some members of the ingroup are symplesiomorphies, and their complementary synapomorphies shared among some members of the ingroup provide hypotheses of relationship within the ingroup clade. The outgroup is used as a point of comparison for the ingroup and specifically allows for the phylogeny to be rooted. Because the polarity (direction) of character change can be determined only on a rooted phylogeny, the choice of outgroup is essential for understanding the evolution of traits along a phylogeny. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion, especially in the context of rank-based (" Linnaean") nomenclature (much less so under phylogenetic nomenclature). If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping. Initial attempts at classifying and ordering organisms (plants and animals) were presumably set forth in prehistoric times by hunter-gatherers, as suggested by the fairly sophisticated folk taxonomies. Much later, Aristotle, and later st ... [...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] |
Junior Synonym
In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that now goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name (under the currently used system of scientific nomenclature) to the Norway spruce, which he called '' Pinus abies''. This name is no longer in use, so it is now a synonym of the current scientific name, '' Picea abies''. * In zoology, moving a species from one genus to another results in a different binomen, but the name is considered an alternative combination rather than a synonym. The concept of synonymy in zoology is reserved for two names at the same rank that refers to a taxon at that rank – for example, the name ''Papilio prorsa'' Linnaeus, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nurhachius
''Nurhachius'' is a genus of Istiodactylidae, istiodactylid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian to Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. Its fossil remains date back about 120 million years ago. Discovery The genus was named in 2005 by Wang Xiaolin, Alexander Kellner, Zhou Zhonghe and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. The type species is ''Nurhachius ignaciobritoi''. The genus name refers to Nurhaci, the first List of emperors of the Qing dynasty, emperor of the Qing Dynasty, whose original power base encompassed the region where the fossil was found. The specific name (zoology), specific name honors the late Brazilian paleontologist Ignácio Aureliano Machado Brito, who pioneered the study of pterosaurs in his country. ''Nurhachius'' was first described based on its holotype fossil, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, IVPP V-13288, a partial skull and skeleton. A second specimen, LPM 00023, wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Istiodactylidae
Istiodactylidae is a small Family (biology), family of pterosaurs. This family was named in 2001 after the type genus ''Istiodactylus'' was discovered not to be a member of the genus ''Ornithodesmus''. Systematics and distribution Remains of taxa that can be confidently assigned to Istiodactylidae have been found in the UK and China, in rocks dating from the Early Cretaceous period (Barremian to Aptian stage). Victoria Arbour, Arbour and Currie (2011) described Canadian ''Gwawinapterus beardi'' as a member of Istiodactylidae living in the late Cretaceous (upper Campanian stage); however, Witton (2012) suggested the tooth replacement pattern in this animal does not match that of pterosaurs, suggesting that the species might be non-pterosaurian. Additional research suggested that the species was in fact a fish. The earliest known species might be ''Archaeoistiodactylus linglongtaensis'', from the Middle Jurassic of China; however, it also has been suggested that the holotype speci ... [...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] |
