辽宁建昌发现蛙嘴翼龙新属种

发布时间:2018年06月01日

 

伦敦地质学会特刊(New Perspectives on Pterosaur Palaeobiology,Geological Society, London, Special Publications)最近在线发表了对一件来自辽宁热河生物群蛙嘴翼龙新标本的研究成果,该研究工作由中国地质科学院地质研究所,北京自然博物馆和国土资源部地层与古生物重点实验室的研究人员共同完成。

文章研究了产自辽宁省建昌喇嘛洞下白垩统九佛堂组的一件近乎完整的蛙嘴翼龙标本,

其颈椎的腹侧表面有两条明显的脊,乌喙骨稍长于肩胛骨,肱骨、第3翼指骨和胫骨几乎一样长,翼指骨1-3后表面均有明显的凹槽,第一脚趾反转,有短尾,依据这些特征建立了新的属种:喇嘛洞黄昏翼龙(Vesperopterylus lamadongensis)。这是中国第一个有明显的短尾、第一脚趾反转的蛙嘴翼龙,反转的第一脚趾说明它有树栖行为。此外黄昏翼龙还是地质历史上最年轻的蛙嘴翼龙,它的发现极大地拓宽了蛙嘴翼龙的地质年龄范围。

Short note on a new anurognathid pterosaur with evidence of perching behaviour from Jianchang of Liaoning Province, China

JUNCHANG LÜ1,2*, QINGJIN MENG3, BAOPENG WANG3*, DI LIU3,CAIZHI SHEN1,2 & YUGUANG ZHANG3

1Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences,

Beijing 100037, China

2Key Laboratory of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Ministry of Land and Resources

of China, Beijing 100037, China

3Beijing Museum of Natural History, Beijing 100050, China

*Correspondence: wbppku@163.com; Lujc2008@126.com

Abstract: A new anurognathid pterosaur, Vesperopterylus lamadongensis gen. et sp. nov., is

erected based on a complete skeleton with a skull preserved. It is characterized by two short distinct ridges present on the ventral surface of the cervical vertebrae; coracoids slightly longer than scapula; humerus, wing phalanx 3 and tibia nearly the same in length; grooves clearly present on the posterior surface of the wing phalanges 1–3; and the first toe reversed. It is the first anurognathid pterosaur from China with a definitively short tail, and the first pterosaur with a reversed first toe. The reversed first toe of Vesperopterylus indicates that it had arboreal habitats. The discovery of Vesperopterylus lamadongensis from the Jiufotang Formation strongly expands the geological age range for anurognathid pterosaurs.

喇嘛洞黄昏翼龙化石

喇嘛洞黄昏翼龙复原图(赵闯绘)