• Reappraisal of the largest ctenochasmatid Moganopterus zhuiana L�et al., 2012

    分类: 生物学 >> 动物学 提交时间: 2022-01-19 合作期刊: 《古脊椎动物学报》

    摘要: Moganopterus zhuiana L�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.

  • Review of historical and current research on the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang, Shandong

    分类: 生物学 >> 动物学 提交时间: 2017-11-07 合作期刊: 《古脊椎动物学报》

    摘要: Here we briefly review the history of research on the Laiyang dinosaur and dinosaur egg faunas, summarize the contributions of C. C. Young and other elder paleontologists to the discoveries of the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang, and introduce the new discoveries and the advances in the research on the Laiyang faunas. The new investigations in Laiyang from 2008 have found a series of valley developed in plain and more than ten new dinosaur or dinosaur egg fossil beds. In 2010, we began the massive excavations at two localities in Jingangkou and collected abundant dinosaurs and other vertebrate fossils, such as a new saurolophine, some theropod material and a new taxon of turtle egg. The bone beds in Locality 2 with the typical sedimentary and burial patterns of mudflow, and these fossil deposits are interpreted as having been carried and deposited by mudflow. The re-observation and the CT scanning data of the crest of Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus (IVPP V 725) show that the crest is fractured and solid. However, based on the re-observations of its cranial and postcranial specimens, we consider that Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus is a valid taxon of lambeosaurines, which have the hollow crest. Therefore, the crest of Tsintaosaurus might not belong to the skull of this individual, and the true form of the crest needs to be confirmed in the future work. We reassess the three species of Tanius, and obtain several results. 1) Tanius sinensis and Tanius chingkankouensis are the valid species of Tanius; 2) Tanius laiyangensis is invalid.; 3) the sacrum and ilium of Tanius chingkankouensis with typical hadrosaurid features should not be referred to Tanius.