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Jianchangnathus

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Jianchangnathus
Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, 160 Ma
Holotype, Paleozoological Museum of China
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Pterosauria
Family: Rhamphorhynchidae
Subfamily: Scaphognathinae
Genus: Jianchangnathus
Cheng et al., 2012
Species:
J. robustus
Binomial name
Jianchangnathus robustus
Cheng et al, 2012

Jianchangnathus is an extinct genus of basal pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of northeastern China.[1]

Naming

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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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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 (3): 597–605. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.812100.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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. PMID 33850665.
  5. ^ 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.