Kunpengopterus: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Genus of pterosaur}} |
{{Short description|Genus of wukongopterid pterosaur from the Jurassic period}} |
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{{Automatic taxobox |
{{Automatic taxobox |
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| taxon = Kunpengopterus |
| taxon = Kunpengopterus |
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Revision as of 19:42, 24 August 2021
| Kunpengopterus Temporal range: Middle?-Late Jurassic,
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| Referred specimen of K. sinensis | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Family: | †Wukongopteridae |
| Genus: | †Kunpengopterus Wang et al., 2010 |
| Type species | |
| †Kunpengopterus sinensis Wang et al., 2010
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| Other species | |
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Kunpengopterus is a genus of wukongopterid pterosaur from the middle-late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of northeastern China. The genus contains two species, the type species K. sinensis and K. antipollicatus.
History of discovery
K. sinensis is known from the holotype specimen IVPP V16047, an almost complete skeleton with complete skull and lower jaws recovered from rocks of the Tiaojishan Formation or Daohugou Beds in Linglongta, Jianchang County, western Liaoning. The age of these layers is controversial. This compression fossil is of an adult individual. Aside from the bones some soft parts were also preserved and the remains of a possibly regurgitated fish.[1]
Kunpengopterus was named and described by Wang Xiaolin, Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner, Jiang Shunxing, Cheng Xin, Meng Xi and Taissa Rodrigues in 2010. The type species is Kunpengopterus sinensis. The generic name combines the Kun, a large fish or whale from Chinese folklore that could transform itself into the Peng, a gigantic colourful bird providing a mythological explanation of the northern lights, with a Latinised Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name refers to the Chinese origin.[1]
In 2017, an additional specimen, IVPP V 23674, was referred and described. It consists of a skeleton with skull.[2]
A second species of Kunpengopterus was described in 2021 by Xuanyu Zhou and colleagues, Kunpengopterus antipollicatus. The specific name is from the Ancient Greek anti "opposite" and pollex "thumb", and refers to the opposed first finger (a thumb) on the wing.[3]
Description
Kunpengopterus has an elongated head, 106.9 millimetres long. The cervical vertebrae too are relatively long. The naris is confluent with the antorbital fenestra, but these large openings are still partly separated by a broad and anteriorly directed processus nasalis which has itself a small vertical tear-shaped opening. A low bony crest is present on the skull, just behind the eyes; preserved soft tissue shows it was elongated by cartilage and a yellow discolouration indicates it was perhaps enlarged to the back by a skin flap. There is no sign of a crest on the snout or of a keel under the lower jaws. The back of the skull is rounded. Kunpengopterus has a long stiff tail. The fifth toe is also long and strongly curved.[1]
K. antipollicatus has an opposable pollux or thumb, which is rare amongst non-mammals.[3][4]
Classification
Kunpengopterus was assigned to the Wukongopteridae, a family of pterosaurs showing a mix of basal and derived pterodactyloid traits.[1] The cladogram below is reproduced from Zhou et al. (2021) and includes both species of Kunpengopterus:[3]
| Monofenestrata |
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See also
References
- ^ a b c d Wang, Xiaolin; Kellner, Alexander W.A.; Jiang, Shunxing; Cheng, Xin; Meng, Xi & Rodrigues, Taissa (2010). "New long-tailed pterosaurs (Wukongopteridae) from western Liaoning, China" (PDF). Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 82 (4): 1045–1062. doi:10.1590/S0001-37652010000400024. PMID 21152776.
- ^ Xin Cheng, Shunxing Jiang, Xiaolin Wangâ & Alexander W.A. Kellner, 2017, "New anatomical information of the wukongopterid Kunpengopterus sinensis Wang et al., 2010 based on a new specimen", PeerJ 5:e4102 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4102
- ^ a b c Zhou, X.; Pêgas, R. V.; Ma, W.; Han, G.; Jin, X.; Leal, M. E. C.; Bonde, N.; Kobayashi, Y.; Lautenschlager, S.; Wei, X.; Shen, C.; Ji, S. (2021). "A new darwinopteran pterosaur reveals arborealism and an opposed thumb". Current Biology. Online edition. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.030.
- ^ "New Jurassic flying reptile reveals the oldest opposed thumb". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
