Eoazhdarcho

Eoazhdarcho is a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid pterosaur named in 2005 by Chinese paleontologists Lü Junchang and Ji Qiang. The type species is Eoazhdarcho liaoxiensis. The genus name combines a Greek eos, "dawn" with the name of the genus Azhdarcho, with the implication it was an early related form of the latter. The specific name refers to the ancient region Liaoxi.

Eoazhdarcho
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 120 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Pterosauria
Suborder: †Pterodactyloidea
Family: †Chaoyangopteridae
Genus: †Eoazhdarcho
Lü & Ji, 2005
Species:
†E. liaoxiensis
Binomial name
†Eoazhdarcho liaoxiensis
Lü & Ji, 2005

The fossil was found in the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. The genus is based on holotype GMN-03-11-02, a partial skeleton and lower jaw, and is distinguished from other pterosaurs by the proportions of its bones. The metacarpals are very elongated but the cervical vertebrae and hind limbs are not. It was relatively small by azhdarchoid standards, with a wingspan of about 1.6 meters (5.2 feet).

Its describers first assigned Eoazhdarcho to the Azhdarchidae in a basal position, and compared it to Azhdarcho.[1] However, in 2006 they published a cladistic analysis, determining that several forms, among them Eoazhdarcho, were united in a natural group, a separate clade that could be set apart from an Azhdarchidae proper.[2] In 2008 that clade was by Lü, Unwin and colleagues named the Chaoyangopteridae — the sister group of the Azhdarchidae within a much larger Azhdarchoidea — with Eoazhdarcho as one of the members.[3]

Classification

Below is a cladogram showing the phylogenetic placement of Eoazhdarcho within Neoazhdarchia from Andres and Myers (2013).[4]

 Neoazhdarchia 
 
 Thalassodromidae 
 

Thalassodromeus sethi

 
 
 

Tupuxuara leonardii

 
 

Tupuxuara longicristatus

 
 
 
 Dsungaripteridae 
 
 

Domeykodactylus ceciliae

 
 

Dsungaripterus weii

 
 
 
 

Noripterus complicidens

 
 

Noripterus parvus

 
 
 
 
 
 Chaoyangopteridae 
 

Eoazhdarcho liaoxiensis

 
 
 

Shenzhoupterus chaoyangensis

 
 
 

Chaoyangopterus zhangi

 
 

Jidapterus edentus

 
 
 
 
 
 

Radiodactylus langstoni

 
 Azhdarchidae 
 

Azhdarcho lancicollis

 
 
 

TMM 42489

 
 
 

Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis

 
 
 

Arambourgiania philadelphiae

 
 

Quetzalcoatlus northropi

 
 

Quetzalcoatlus sp.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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See also

References
  1. Lü, Junchang; Qiang Ji (2005). "New azhdarchid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of western Liaoning". Acta Geologica Sinica. 79 (3): 301–307. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2005.tb00893.x.
  2. Lü, Junchang; Qiang Ji (2006). "Preliminary results of a phylogenetic analysis of the pterosaurs from western Liaoning and surrounding area" (PDF). Journal of the Paleontological Society of Korea. 22 (1): 239–261. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
  3. Lü, J., Unwin, D.M., Xu, L., and Zhang, X. (2008). "A new azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China and its implications for pterosaur phylogeny and evolution." Naturwissenschaften, 95: 891–897
  4. Andres, B.; Myers, T. S. (2013). "Lone Star Pterosaurs". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: 1. doi:10.1017/S1755691013000303.


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