A new istiodactylid pterosaur, Lingyuanopterus camposi gen. et sp. nov., from the Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China

2022/07/26 by Yizhi Xu, Shunxing Jiang, Xiaolin Wang · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Ichthyology and Marine Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies

paper · doi:10.7717/peerj.13819

openalex publication_date 2022/07/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

The Istiodactylidae is a group of pterodactyloids characterised by large nasoantorbital fenestrae and labiolingually compressed teeth, with several records reported from the Early Cretaceous of northeastern China and western Europe. Here we report a new istiodactylid, Lingyuanopterus camposi gen. et sp. nov. from the Jiufotang Formation of Lingyuan, Liaoning, northeastern China. The holotype is represented by a near-complete skull, mandible and atlas-axis complex. It is distinguished from other istiodactylids by several characters, including two autapomorphies: short triangular tooth crowns with sharp mesial and distal carinae limited to the distal teeth, mandibular symphysis occupying approximately a quarter the mandible length. We also report the presence of helical jaw joints in istiodactylids, and provide a revised diagnosis of the clade Istiodactylidae, which includes five genera: Istiodactylus , Liaoxipterus , Nurhachius , Luchibang and Lingyuanopterus . Four pellets containing fish fragments were observed and are tentatively interpreted as bromalites of Lingyuanopterus . Although members of this clade possess similar skull morphologies, istiodactylids vary in terms of their dentition, with at least three forms from the Jiufotang Formation alone. This may represent different feeding strategies, and also indicate a similarity between the pterosaur assemblages of northeastern China and Britain during the Early Cretaceous.

Citations

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Cited by

• List of pterosaur genera [wikipedia]