Pterorhynchus

Taxobox
name = "Pterorhynchus"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Jurassic
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Pterosauria
subordo = Rhamphorhynchoidea
familia = Rhamphorhynchidae
genus = "Pterorhynchus"
genus_authority = Czerkas and Ji, 2002
binomial = "Pterorhynchus wellnhoferi"
binomial_authority = Czerkas and Ji, 2002

"Pterorhynchus" (meaning "wing snout", in reference to its tall head crest) was a genus of rhamphorhynchid rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur from the Late Jurassic-age Daohugou FormationWang Xiaolin, Zhou Zhonghe, He Huaiyu, Jin Fan, Wang Yuanqing, Zhang Jiangyong, Wang Yuan, Xu Xing and Zhang Fucheng. (2005). Stratigraphy and age of the Daohugou Bed in Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia. "Chinese Science Bulletin" 50(20):2369-2376.] of Inner Mongolia, China. It is based on CAGS02-IG-gausa-2/M 608, an articulated, nearly-complete skeleton with impressions of the integument. Included were wing membrane impressions, hair-like structures, a long version of the structure found at the end of rhamphorhynchoid tails, and a head crest with both a bony base and a large soft-tissue extension; the latter feature is unusual in rhamphorhynchoids, which usually lacked head crests. The type individual had a skull 11.8 cm (4.65 in) long, and a wingspan of about 85 cm (33.46 in).Czerkas, S.A., and Ji, Q. (2002). A new rhamphorhynchoid with a headcrest and complex integumentary structures. In: Czerkas, S.J. (Ed.). "Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origin of Flight". The Dinosaur Museum:Blanding, Utah, 15-41. ISBN 1-93207-501-1.] David Unwin's recent book "The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time" regarded it as a Cretaceous genus,Unwin, D.M. (2006). The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time. Pi Press:New York, p. 53. ISBN 0-13-146308-X.] but this was based on old information. He also suggested that it was a scaphognathine.Unwin, D.M. (2006). The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time. Pi Press:New York, p. 272. ISBN 0-13-146308-X.]

References

External links

* [http://www.pterosaur.co.uk/species/UJP/rhamph/Pterorhynchus.htm "Pterorhynchus"] in The Pterosaur Database
* [http://archosauria.org/pterosauria/taxonomy/genera/pterorhynchus.html "Pterorhynchus"] in The Pterosauria
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070107225638/http://www.paleograveyard.com/pterorhynchus.html Multiple reconstructions of "Pterorhynchus"] at The Grave Yard