A new wing skeleton of &lt;i&gt;Forfexopterus&lt;/i&gt; (Pterosauria: Ctenochasmatidae) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota reveals a developmental variation

Abstract. In the Jehol Biota, the filter-feeding ctenochasmatid pterosaurs flourished with a high biodiversity. Here, we report a new wing skeleton of the ctenochasmatid Forfexopterus from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in Jianchang, western Liaoning, China. The specimen exhibits the sole autapomorphy, the first wing phalanx shorter than the second and longer than the third. Interestingly, it exhibits a skeletal maturity with co-ossified elements, but it is only about 75 % the size of the immature holotype. This discrepancy reveals developmental variation of Forfexopterus, but its relationship with sexual dimorphism needs to be certain by more available material.

Download Full-text

A new eucryptodiran turtle from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.2676.1.3 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2676 (1) ◽

pp. 45 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

CHANG-FU ZHOU

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

Cladistic Analysis ◽

Yixian Formation ◽

Liaoning Province ◽

Jehol Biota ◽

Western Liaoning ◽

The Third

A new eucryptodiran turtle from the Jiufotang Formation of Lamadong, Jianchang County, represents the third turtle taxon, Liaochelys jianchangensis gen. et sp. nov., from the Jehol Biota of western Liaoning Province, China. This taxon is diagnosed by a character combination including a midline contact of the prefrontals, vertebrals wider than long, third costals strongly expanded distally, and a medial contact of the eighth costals. A preliminary cladistic analysis places Liaochelys jianchangensis along the phylogenetic stem of Cryptodira in a position more derived than the taxa, Manchurochelys manchoukuoensis and Ordosemys liaoxiensis, known from the underlying Yixian Formation. This discovery opens a new window into the osteology and evolution of primitive eucryptodiran turtles.

Download Full-text

A second specimen of Manchurochelys manchoukuoensis Endo & Shikama, 1942 (Testudines: Eucryptodira) from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.2534.1.4 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2534 (1) ◽

pp. 57 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

CHANG-FU ZHOU

Keyword(s):

World War Ii ◽

Early Cretaceous ◽

Cladistic Analysis ◽

Yixian Formation ◽

Liaoning Province ◽

Cranial Morphology ◽

Jehol Biota ◽

Western Liaoning ◽

Additional Information ◽

Close Relationship

Within the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of China, the turtle Manchurochelys manchoukuoensis Endo & Shikama, 1942 was one of the first discovered tetrapod fossils, but no additional information on this enigmatic taxon has become available during the past half century since its discovery. Here, a new turtle skeleton from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning Province is identified as referable to M. manchoukuoensis on the basis of an elongate oval shell, long and narrow second to fourth vertebral scutes, and two suprapygals, of which the second is much larger than the first. This specimen therefore represents the second specimen of M. manchoukuoensis, the holotype of which was probably lost during World War II. This discovery not only provides essential material that allows the validity of M. manchoukuoensis to be tested, but also substantially expands understanding of its bony anatomy, especially with regard to cranial morphology. Among other features, M. manchoukuoensis is characterized by a postorbital that does not contact the quadrate/squamosal and a deep temporal emargination, which support a close relationship with Sinemys spp. and distinguish it from the co-existing Ordosemys liaoxiensis. A cladistic analysis that includes M. manchoukuoensis further supports the hypothesis that Sinemydidae is a monophyletic group that includes Sinemys spp. and Dracochelys bicuspis.

Download Full-text

Fossil coniferous wood from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in western Liaoning, NE China: New material and palaeoclimate implications

Cretaceous Research ◽

10.1016/j.cretres.2015.12.011 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 61 ◽

pp. 57-70 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Qiuhong Ding ◽

Ning Tian ◽

Yongdong Wang ◽

Zikun Jiang ◽

Shuwang Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

Ne China ◽

Jehol Biota ◽

Western Liaoning ◽

New Material ◽

Coniferous Wood

Download Full-text

A new longhorn beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of Western Liaoning in China

Cretaceous Research ◽

10.1016/j.cretres.2014.02.019 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

pp. 453-460 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Yali Yu ◽

Adam Ślipiński ◽

Chris Reid ◽

ChungKun Shih ◽

Hong Pang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

Jehol Biota ◽

Western Liaoning ◽

Longhorn Beetle

Download Full-text

Male spike strobiles withGnetumaffinity from the Early Cretaceous in western Liaoning, Northeast China

Journal of Systematics and Evolution ◽

10.1111/j.1759-6831.2009.00007.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 47 (2) ◽

pp. 93-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Shuang-Xing GUO ◽

Jin-Geng SHA ◽

Li-Zeng BIAN ◽

Yin-Long QIU

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

Northeast China ◽

Western Liaoning

Download Full-text

Astrochronology for the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in northeastern China

Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology ◽

10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.017 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 385 ◽

pp. 221-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Huaichun Wu ◽

Shihong Zhang ◽

Ganqing Jiang ◽

Tianshui Yang ◽

Junhua Guo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

Northeastern China ◽

Jehol Biota

Download Full-text

Genetics of Differences in Pheromonal Hydrocarbons Between Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/143.1.353 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 143 (1) ◽

pp. 353-364 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jerry A Coyne

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Genetic Analysis ◽

Species Difference ◽

The Other ◽

Chromosome 3 ◽

Apparent Effect ◽

The Third ◽

Hydrocarbon Profile ◽

The Right

Abstract Females of Drosophila melanogaster and its sibling species D. simulans have very different cuticular hydrocarbons, with the former bearing predominantly 7,11-heptacosadiene and the latter 7-tricosene. This difference contributes to reproductive isolation between the species. Genetic analysis shows that this difference maps to only the third chromosome, with the other three chromosomes having no apparent effect. The D. simulans alleles on the left arm of chromosome 3 are largely recessive, allowing us to search for the relevant regions using D. melanogaster deficiencies. At least four nonoverlapping regions of this arm have large effects on the hydrocarbon profile, implying that several genes on this arm are responsible for the species difference. Because the right arm of chromosome 3 also affects the hydrocarbon profile, a minimum of five genes appear to be involved. The large effect of the third chromosome on hydrocarbons has also been reported in the hybridization between D. simulans and its closer relative D. sechellia, implying either an evolutionaly convergence or the retention in D. sechllia of an ancestral sexual dimorphism.

Download Full-text

First evidence for tooth-tooth occlusion in a ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota

Geological Society London Special Publications ◽

10.1144/sp521-2021-141 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. SP521-2021-141

Author(s):

Chang-Fu Zhou ◽

Xinyue Wang ◽

Jiahao Wang

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

Feeding Strategy ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Tooth Wear ◽

First Record ◽

Jehol Biota ◽

Content Type ◽

Dimensional Reconstruction ◽

Supplementary Material ◽

Ct Data

AbstractCtenochasmatid pterosaurs flourished and diversified in the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. Here, a partial mandible of Forfexopterus is described based on a three-dimensional reconstruction using high-resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) data. The first nine pairs of functional teeth of the rostral dentition revealed along with their replacements. The functional teeth are evenly arranged with a tooth density of 2.2 teeth/cm. The tooth crown is distinctly reduced from its base to the tip, and framed by two weak ridges, possibly as a pair of vestigial carinae. The replacement teeth are sharp and pointed, and have erupted slightly against the medial surface of the functional teeth. Surprisingly, tooth wear is observed in this specimen, the first record of tooth-tooth occlusion in ctenochasmatids. The wear facets exhibit high-angled lingual and lower-angled labial facets, implying a tooth-tooth occlusion in pterosaur clade. This discovery indicates that the Jehol ctenochasmatids possibly employed a more active feeding strategy than other filter-feeding pterosaurs (e.g. Ctenochasma, Pterodaustro, Gnathosaurus).Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5722060

Download Full-text