A new pterosaur from the early stage of the Jehol biota in China, with a study on the relative thickness of bone walls.

ABSTRACT: The Huajiying Formation (135.4-128.7 Ma) of the northern Hebei represents the early stage of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in China, yielding many kinds of vertebrates. The only known pterosaur specimen was incomplete and assigned to the Ornithocheiroidea. Here we report a more complete pterosaur specimen, assigned to the Ctenochasmatidae. A new taxon is established on two autapomorphies: a large pneumatic foramen present on the ventral surface of the proximal end of the first wing phalanx; and coracoid lacking an expansion at its contact with the scapula, as well as the following combination of characteristics: subsquare sternal plate; coracoid having an extremely concave articulation with a posterior expansion; humerus without a tubercle on the proximal margin between the deltopectora

SUBMITTER: Jiang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10709016 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature