At left is the original interpretation (Lü et al. 2008) of the skull of Shenzhoupterus.
At right is a complete reconstruction based on the work shown below. Lü et al. (2008) did not notice that the sternal complex had drifted to lie beneath the skull (see below).
Shenzhoupterus chaoyangensis IHGM 41HIII-305A (Lü et al. 2008) ~120 mya, Aptian, Early Cretaceous, ~4.6 m wingspan was originally considered a sister to Chaoyangopterus, Eoazhdarcho, Eopteranodon and Jidapterus. Unfortunately these four actually comprise two unrelated clades far removed from each other and distinct from Shenzhoupterus. Derived from a sister to Noripterus and Nemicolopterus, Shenzhoupterus was the last known representative of this lineage.
Distinct from Nemicolopterus, the skull of Shenzhoupterus had a taller antorbital fenestra, a taller subdivided orbit and a thinner, longer posterior crest. The mandible was deeper.
The cervicals were elongated and quite gracile. The torso was deep, short and compact, almost spherical. The sacrals equaled the dorsals in length. The caudals were vestigial.
The sternal complex was square. The humerus extended to the pubis. The wing was gracile.
The pelvis was larger and the prepubis was much deeper. The hind limb was longer and more robust. Pedal digit I was short, as in Noripterus, and the ungual did not align with II-IV.
The family tree of the Ornithocephalia and Germanodactylia is here. The expanded family tree of the Pterosauria is here. |
