Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Feb 12;105(6):1983-7.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0707728105. Epub 2008 Feb 11.

Discovery of a rare arboreal forest-dwelling flying reptile (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from China

Xiaolin Wang  1 , Alexander W A Kellner, Zhonghe Zhou, Diogenes de Almeida Campos
Affiliations

Discovery of a rare arboreal forest-dwelling flying reptile (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from China

Xiaolin Wang et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

A previously undescribed toothless flying reptile from northeastern China, Nemicolopterus crypticus gen. et sp. nov., was discovered in the lacustrine sediments of the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, western Liaoning, China. The specimen consists of an almost complete articulated skeleton (IVPP V14377) and, despite representing an immature individual, based on the ossification of the skeleton, it is not a hatchling or newborn, making it one of the smallest pterosaurs known so far (wing span approximately 250 mm). It can be distinguished from all other pterosaurs by the presence of a short medial nasal process, an inverted "knife-shaped" deltopectoral crest of the humerus, and the presence of a well developed posterior process on the femur above the articulation with the tibia. It further shows the penultimate phalanges of the foot curved in a degree not reported in any pterosaur before, strongly indicating that it had an arboreal lifestyle, more than any other pterodactyloid pterosaur known so far. It is the sister-group of the Ornithocheiroidea and indicates that derived pterosaurs, including some gigantic forms of the Late Cretaceous with wingspans of >6 m, are closely related to small arboreal toothless creatures that likely were living in the canopies of the ancient forests feeding on insects.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Sketch of a map of China with the indication of a new locality.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Nemicolopterus crypticus gen. et sp. nov., a basal dsungaripteroid from the Jiufotang Formation, Liaoning Province, China. (A) Photograph. (B) Drawing of the complete skeleton. (Scale bar: 1 cm.) cdv, caudal vertebrae; cor, coracoid; cv, cervical vertebrae; dri, dorsal ribs; dv, dorsal vertebrae; fe, femur; hu, humerus; il, ilium; is, ischium; mcIV, metacarpal 4; ph1d4, first phalanx of manual digit IV; ph2d4, second phalanx of manual digit IV; ph3d4, third phalanx of manual digit IV; ph4d4, fourth phalanx of manual digit IV; pu, pubis; ra, radius; sca, scapula; st, sternum; sv, sacral vertebrae; ti, tibia; ul, ulna; l, left; r, right.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Nemicolopterus crypticus gen. et sp. nov. details of the skeleton. (a) Drawing of the skull. (b) Distal part of the tibiae and feet. (c) Detail of the posterior process of the femur (arrow). (Scale bar: 5 mm.) art, articular; d, dentary; f, frontal; fola, foramen lacrimale; hy, hyoid bone; j, jugal; la, lacrimal; ltf, lower temporal fenestra; m, maxilla; n, nasal; naof, nasoantorbital fenestra; or, orbit; p, parietal; pm, premaxilla; prn, processus nasalis; pty, pterygoid; san, surangular; scl, sclerotic ring; sq, squamosal; utf, upper temporal fenestra; l, left; r, right.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Cladogram showing the phylogenetic position of Nemicolopterus crypticus gen. et sp. nov. (see SI Appendix). 1, Pterosauria; 2, Novialoidea; 3, Pterodactyloidea; 4, Archaeopterodactyloidea; 5, Dsungaripteroidea; 6, Ornithocheiroidea; 7, Pteranodontoidea; 8, Dsungaripteridae; 9, Tapejaridae; 10, Azhdarchidae. *, Phylogenetic position of Nemicolopterus crypticus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Wellnhofer P. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs. London: Salamander Books; 1991.
    1. Kellner AWA. Pterossauros-os senhores do céu do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Vieira & Lent; 2006.
    1. Kellner AWA. Remarks on pterosaur taphonomy and paleoecology. Acta Geologica Leopoldensia. 1994;39:175–189.
    1. Wang X, Kellner AWA, Zhou Z, Campos DA. Pterosaur diversity and faunal turnover in Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems in China. Nature. 2005;437:875–879. - PubMed
    1. Zhou ZH, Barrett PM, Hilton J. An exceptionally preserved Lower Cretaceous ecosystem. Nature. 2003;421:807–814. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources