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 tongue muscles), suggest that it was an insect eater, and may even have had the capability to protrude its tongue in a manner similar to in order to catch insects.
Classification
Liaoxipterus was originally classified by
Dong Zhiming and Lü Junchang as a member of the
Ctenochasmatidae. Wang and colleagues suggested in 2006 and 2008 that it was actually an
istiodactylidae instead,
an opinion that was accepted by Lü in 2015. In 2008 Lü concluded that
Nurhachius was a subjective
junior synonym of
Liaoxipterus.
[Lü, J., Xu, L. and Ji, Q. (2008), "Restudy of Liaoxipterus (Istiodactylidae: Pterosauria), with comments on the Chinese istiodactylid pterosaurs", In: Hone, D. W. E. and Buffetaut, E. (eds), Flugsaurier: pterosaur papers in honour of Peter Wellnhofer, Zitteliana B28: 229–241] However, a 2012 analysis by Mark Witton found that these two istiodactylids were not identical and, more importantly, did not group together in a phylogenetic tree. Witton also noted that they did not actually group together in Lü's study either.
The cladogram below follows Witton's 2012 analysis, wherein he found Istiodactylidae to consist of five taxa (the first three species listed are outgroup or reference taxa):[
]
The cladogram below is a topology recovered by Kellner et al. (2019). In the analyses, they recovered Liaoxipterus as the sister taxon of Istiodactylus within the family Istiodactylidae, and placed within the more inclusive group Istiodactyliformes.
See also
-
List of pterosaur genera
-
Timeline of pterosaur research
External links
