Yixianopterus

Yixianopterus is a pterodactyloid pterosaur genus from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China.

Yixianopterus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 124.6 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Clade:	†Ornithocheiromorpha
Genus:	†Yixianopterus Lü et al., 2006
Type species
†Yixianopterus jingangshanensis Lü et al., 2006

Classification

Lü et al. (2006) assigned Yixianopterus to the lophocratian family Lonchodectidae on the basis of dental characters, classifying it as the first Asian representative of Lonchodectidae.[1] Martill (2011) considered it potentially related to his new taxon Unwindia,[2] and Witton (2013) assigned it to the family Ornithocheiridae.[3]

References

1. J. Lü, S. Ji, C. Yuan, Y. Gao, Z. Sun and Q. Ji. 2006. New pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning. Papers from the 2005 Heyuan International Dinosaur Symposium. Geological Publishing House, Beijing 195-203
2. Martill, David M. (2011). "A new pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Santana Formation (Cretaceous) of Brazil". Cretaceous Research. 32 (2): 236–243. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2010.12.008.
3. Witton, Mark P. (2013). Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.