Reappraisal of the largest ctenochasmatid Moganopterus zhuiana Lü et al., 2012
Received date: 2021-09-16
Online published: 2022-01-11
Moganopterus zhuiana Lü et al., 2012 was erected as a member of the Boreopteridae, which was questioned by different researchers shortly after the publication. Although the new assignment to the Ctenochasmatidae is widely accepted by pterosaur researchers, some characteristics still require a detailed description. Here, the holotype of this taxon is restudied, and some ambiguous characteristics are re-identified. The diagnosis of this taxon has been revised as the following: a large ctenochasmatid pterosaur, which can be distinguished from other members of this clade by a single autapomorphy: an elongated rod-like parietal crest that extends posterodorsally, forming an angle of about 15° with the ventral margin of the skull. This taxon can be further distinguished from other ctenochasmatids on the basis of the following combination of characteristics: straight occlusal surfaces of the upper and low jaws; presence of a low premaxillary crest confined anterior to the nasoantorbital fenestra; rostrum about two thirds of the skull length; nasoantorbital fenestra occupying slightly more than 20% of the skull length; about 100 slender teeth; and a mid-cervical length/width ratio of about 7. The wingspan of M. zhuiana has been re-estimated according to a simple regression equation for wingspan versus skull length in ctenochasmatids. It confirms that M. zhuiana, although smaller than previous thought, is still the largest known ctenochasmatid. When comparing the sizes of ctenochasmatids in the Jurassic and Cretaceous, ctenochasmatids showed a rough tendency to increase their sizes.
GAO Dian-Song, JIANG Shun-Xing, XU Li, CHENG Xin, YANG Li-Li, JIA Song-Hai, WANG Xiao-Lin . Reappraisal of the largest ctenochasmatid Moganopterus zhuiana Lü et al., 2012[J]. Vertebrata Palasiatica, 2022 , 60(3) : 197 -211 . DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.220111
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