''Longchengpterus'', sometimes misspelled as "Lonchengopterus", is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

istiodactylid Istiodactylidae is a small 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 co ...

pterodactyloid Pterodactyloidea (derived from the Greek words ''πτερόν'' (''pterón'', for usual ''ptéryx'') "wing", and ''δάκτυλος'' (''dáktylos'') "finger" meaning "winged finger", "wing-finger" or "finger-wing") is one of the two traditional ...

pterosaur Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the Order (biology), order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cre ...

from the

Barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma ( million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is pre ...

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ag ...

-age

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

Jiufotang Formation The Jiufotang Formation ( Chinese: 九佛堂组, pinyin: ''jiǔfótáng zǔ'') is an Early Cretaceous geological formation in Chaoyang, Liaoning which has yielded fossils of feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, pterosaurs, and other organisms (see ...

of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. Its fossil remains dated back about 120 million years ago.

Etymology

The genus was named in 2006 by Wang Li, Li Li,

Duan Ye Duan Ye (; died 401) was the first king of Northern Liang of the Sixteen Kingdoms period in Chinese history. He was of Han ethnicity, and was originally a commandery governor of Later Liang, but after Xiongnu generals Juqu Mengxun and Juqu Nan ...

and Cheng Shao-li. The genus name is derived from the old name of

Chaoyang City Chaoyang () is a prefecture-level city in western Liaoning province, People's Republic of China. With a vast land area of almost , it is by area the largest prefecture-level city in Liaoning, and borders on Hebei province and the Inner Mongolia ...

, ''Longcheng'', and a Latinized Greek ''pteron'', "wing". The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honors

Zhao Dayu Zhao Dayu (; 17 January 1961 – 18 March 2015), also known as , was a Chinese coach, businessman and a former international football striker. He was a naturalized citizen of Japan. As a footballer he played his whole career for Guangzh ...

, the president of

Shenyang Normal University Shenyang Normal University (; SYNU) is a broad-based university in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China under the provincial government. History Shenyang Normal University was established in 1951, as Northeastern Education College. During its li ...

and a contributor to the founding of the Western Liaoning Institute of Mesozoic Paleontology.

Description

''Longchengpterus'' is based on

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

LPM 00023, found at Yuanjiawa near Dapingfanga, a compressed incomplete skeleton and partial skull on a single plate. The posterior part of the skull has been damaged. It is elongated with a length of . The large skull opening, the ''fenestra nasantorbitalis'', is triangular in form and occupies much of the snout. The teeth in the upper jaw are concentrated in the front part and spaced far apart; their number is uncertain. The lower jaws have been well preserved. They are long and their

symphysis A symphysis (, pl. symphyses) is a fibrocartilaginous fusion between two bones. It is a type of cartilaginous joint, specifically a secondary cartilaginous joint. # A symphysis is an amphiarthrosis, a slightly movable joint. # A growing togethe ...

is short. Twelve teeth are present in the dentary. They have a sharp point but are laterally compressed, curving slightly inwards. The humerus, long, has a low deltopectoral crest and no pneumatic foramen. The fourth metacarpal is longer than the first phalanx of the wing finger. The wingspan was about . The pelvis has been heavily damaged. Part of a femur is present, its estimated length was .

Classification

''Longchengpterus'' has been assigned to the

Istiodactylidae Istiodactylidae is a small 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 c ...

sharing with ''

Istiodactylus ''Istiodactylus'' is a genus of pterosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago. The first fossil was discovered on the English Isle of Wight in 1887, and in 1901 became the holotype specimen of a new species ...

'' tooth form and count as well as a large skull opening. A notable difference is the lack of a broad snout. It was the second istiodactylid named and the first from China, adding to the known pterosaur diversity from Early Cretaceous layers of China.Wang, L., Li, L., Duan, Y., and Cheng, S.L. (2006). A new istiodactylid pterosaur from western Liaoning, China. ''Geological Bulletin of China'' 25(6):737-740. The

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...

below follows Witton's 2012 analysis, wherein he found Istiodactylidae to consist of five

taxa In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural 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 n ...

(the first three species listed are

outgroup Outgroup may refer to: * Outgroup (cladistics), an evolutionary-history concept * Outgroup (sociology) In sociology and social psychology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contras ...

or reference taxa):

References

{{Portal bar, Paleontology, Cretaceous, China Pteranodontoids Early Cretaceous pterosaurs of Asia Fossil taxa described in 2006