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CHANGCHENGOPTERUS
(chan-cheng-op-teh-rus)
meaning: "Changchen wing"
Named By: Lu in 2009
Time Period: Late Jurassic, 160 Ma
Location: China, Hebei Province - Tiaojishan Formation
Size: 47.5 centimetre wingspan
Diet: Piscivore
Fossil(s): Single juvenile specimen
Classification: | Chordata | Reptilia | Pterosauria | Wukongopteridae |
About

Changchengopterus is a genus of non-pterodactyloid pterosaur from China (Qinglong County, Hebei Province). The fossil specimen of the type and only species, Changchengopterus pani, was found in the Tiaojishan Formation and described by Lu in 2009. It is known only from a single specimen of a young juvenile, measuring 475 millimetres (18.7 in) in wingspan.

In his original description, Lu's phylogenetic analysis concluded that Changchengopterus was a primitive pterosaur closely related to the earlier European pterosaur Dorygnathus, and he placed it in Rhamphorhynchidae. However, a subsequent study by Wang and colleagues (2010) noted some similarities with the wukongopterids, and they tentatively placed it in that family. Andres & Myers (2013) found it to be outside Wukongopteridae and slightly more closely related to the pterodactyloids within the larger group Monofenestrata.

Read more about Changchengopterus at Wikipedia
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