Jianchangnathus
| Jianchangnathus Temporal range: Middle Jurassic,
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|---|---|
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| Holotype, Paleozoological Museum of China | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Family: | †Rhamphorhynchidae |
| Subfamily: | †Scaphognathinae |
| Genus: | †Jianchangnathus Cheng et al., 2012 |
| Species: | †J. robustus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Jianchangnathus robustus Cheng et al, 2012
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Jianchangnathus is an extinct genus of basal pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of northeastern China.[1]
Naming[edit]
Jianchangnathus was first described and named by Cheng Xin, Wang Xiaolin, Jiang Shunxing and Alexander W.A. Kellner in 2012 and the type species is Jianchangnathus robustus. The generic name combines a reference to Jianchang County with a Greek γνάθος, gnathos, "jaw". The specific name means "robust" in Latin.[1]
Jianchangnathus was initially described based on a single fossil skeleton, holotype IVPP V16866, recovered near Linglongta, in Jianchang County. The second specimen, PMOL-AP00028, consisting of a partially articulated skull and fragments of postcranial skeleton of a subadult individual, was described in 2014.[2]
Description[edit]
Autapomorphies of Jiangchangnathus include: a convex top margin of the lower jaw; a large front branch of the jugal; and the first three pairs of teeth of the lower jaws pointing strongly forwards. Its describers found it to share several features with Scaphognathus, including a high front end of the lower jaws, a pear-shaped lower temporal fenestra with the broad end below and teeth in the maxilla of the upper jaw that have a space equal to that of three toothsockets between them.[1] Additionally, undescribed fossils of a pterosaur referred to Jianchangnathus suggest that the color of its pycnofibers was brown.[3]
Phylogeny[edit]
Jianchangnathus was assigned by the describers to the Scaphognathidae by the describing authors,[1] which was corroborated by later phylogenetic analyses which included this taxon.[4][5]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Xin Cheng; Xiaolin Wang; Shunxing Jiang; Alexander W.A. Kellner (2012). "A new scaphognathid pterosaur from western Liaoning, China". Historical Biology. 24: 101–111. doi:10.1080/08912963.2011.635423. S2CID 128539358.
- ^ Chang-Fu Zhou (2014). "Cranial Morphology of a Scaphognathus-Like Pterosaur, Jianchangnathus robustus, Based on a New Fossil from the Tiaojishan Formation of Western Liaoning, China". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34: 597–605. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.812100.
- ^ Li, Q., J.A. Clarke, K.-Q. Gao, C.-F. Zhou, Q. Meng, D. Li, L. D'Alba, and M.D. Shawkey. 2014. Melanosome evolution indicates a key physiological shift within feathered dinosaurs. Nature 507: 350-353.
- ^ Wei, X.; Pêgas, R. V.; Shen, C.; Guo, Y.; Ma, W.; Sun, D.; Zhou, X. (2021). "Sinomacrops bondei, a new anurognathid pterosaur from the Jurassic of China and comments on the group". PeerJ. 9: e11161. doi:10.7717/peerj.11161. PMC 8019321.
- ^ Natalia Jagielska; Michael O’Sullivan; Gregory F. Funston; et al. (February 2022). "A skeleton from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland illuminates an earlier origin of large pterosaurs". Current Biology. 32: 1–8. doi:10.1016/J.CUB.2022.01.073. ISSN 0960-9822. Wikidata Q110984418.
