Boreopterus

• China, Liaoning ( Jehol Group)

• Boreopterus cuiae

Boreopterus is a genus of short-tailed pterosaurs ( Pterodactyloidea ) from the group of Ornithocheiridae. So far, a single, nearly complete skeleton is known from Liaoning (China ) comes from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation ( Jehol Group). Boreopterus was described in 2005 with the only kind Boreopterus cuiae first time scientifically.

The name Boreopterus (large bore - "north "; pteron - "wings" ) means something like " Northern wing " and points to the locality in northern China. The second part of the species name, cuiae, honoring Ms. Cui Xu, who discovered the fossil and the research presented is available.

Features

The snout is long and slender, with a skull crest, as show him some other representatives of the Ornithocheiridae missing. Boreopterus differs from other Ornithocheiridae by the larger and more numerous teeth: In the upper jaw and the lower jaw sit at least 27 teeth, the first 9 pairs of teeth are the largest. The fourth pair of teeth in the upper and lower jaw is slightly larger than the third; total Boreopterus but shows less variation in tooth size as related genera. The thigh bone ( femur) is about as long as the shinbone ( tibia ), while the upper arm bone (humerus ) is somewhat shorter.

Discovery

The only known copy ( copy number JZMP -04 -07- 3) is a nearly complete, but crushed skeleton including skull. There are missing parts of the shoulder and pelvic girdle. The skeleton comes from Jinzhou in western Liaoning. Today it is in the collection of the Paleontological Museum in Jinzhou.