Angustinaripterus

{{Short description|Genus of rhamphorhynchid pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic}}

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| image = Angustinaripterus NT.jpg

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| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Middle Jurassic}}

| extinct = yes

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| genus = Angustinaripterus

| species = longicephalus

| parent_authority = He et al. 1983

| authority = He et al., 1983

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Angustinaripterus was a basal pterosaur, belonging to the breviquartossan family Rhamphorhynchidae (more specifically within the subfamily Rhamphorhynchinae) and discovered at Dashanpu near Zigong in the Sichuan province of China.

Discovery and etymology

Angustinaripterus was named in 1983 by He Xinlu, Yang Daihuan, and Su Chunkang. The type species is Angustinaripterus longicephalus. The genus name is derived from Latin angustus, "narrow" and naris, "nostril", combined with Latinized Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name is derived from Latin longus, "long", and Greek kephale, "head".{{cite journal |last1=He |first1=Xinlu |last2=Yang |first2=Daihuan |last3=Su |first3=Chunkang |year=1983 |title=A New Pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Dashanpu, Zigong, Sichuan |journal=Journal of the Chengdu College of Geology |volume=Supplement 1 |pages=27–33 |url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=ed06b5cf83335c9cbe8d337fdd0a4dad8d1d222f |translator-last=Downs |translator-first=Will}}

The holotype, ZDM T8001, is a single skull with lower jaws, found in 1981 by researchers from the Zigong Historical Museum of the Salt Industry, in an outcrop of the Xiashaximiao Formation (Bathonian). It is now stored at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum.{{cite journal |last1=Hone |first1=David W.E. |last2=Tischlinger |first2=Helmut |last3=Frey |first3=Eberhard |last4=Röper |first4=Martin |date=2012-07-05 |title=A New Non-Pterodactyloid Pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of Southern Germany |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=7 |issue=7 |article-number=e39312 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0039312 |doi-access=free |pmid=22792168 }}

Description

The skull of Angustinaripterus, of which the left side is severely damaged, is very elongated and flat. The back part is missing; in its preserved state it has a length of {{convert|192|mm|in|sp=us}}; the total length in a complete state was estimated at {{convert|201|mm|in|sp=us}}. On its top is a low crest, {{convert|2|to|3|mm|in|sp=us}} high. The nares are long, slit-like and positioned above and in front of the large skull openings, the fenestrae antorbitales, with which they are not confluent. Of the jaws, which are very straight, the front part is lacking. There are six pairs of teeth in the maxillae and three pairs in the premaxillae. In the mandible there are at least ten pairs of teeth, perhaps twelve. The back teeth are small, the front teeth are very long, robust and curved, pointing moderately forward. At the front they form a large, intermeshing "prey grab", that may have been used to snatch fish from the water surface.{{cite book |last=Wellnhofer |first=Peter |year=1991 |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs |publisher=Crescent |isbn=978-0517037010 |page=81 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000well/page/80/mode/2up?q=Angustinaripterus}} The teeth of Angustinaripterus resemble those of Dorygnathus.{{cite web |last=Pursglove |first=P. |title=Angustinaripterus longicephalus |website=The Pterosaur Database |url=https://pterosaur.co.uk/PDB2012/P/04SpecMJ/AngustanipterusLongicephalus.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721225014/http://www.pterosaur.co.uk/species/MJP/Angustanipterus-001.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-21}}

Peter Wellnhofer in 1991, assuming the skull length was {{convert|16.5|cm|in|sp=us}}, estimated the wingspan at {{convert|1.6|m|ft|sp=us}}.

Classification

He et al. (1983) placed Angustinaripterus into the family Rhamphorhynchidae. Because of the derived morphology and the large geographical distance with comparable European forms, He et al. also created a subfamily Angustinaripterinae, of which Angustinaripterus itself was the only known member, and concluded that Angustinaripterus was directly related to the Scaphognathinae. The name Angustinaripterinae, converted to the tribe Angustinaripterini, may also include Dearc and Sericipterus.{{Cite Q|Q110984418}}

The cladogram (family tree) below is a phylogenetic analysis published by paleontologists Brian Andres & Timothy Myers in 2013. They recovered Angustinaripterus as derived rhamphorhynchine, within the tribe Angustinaripterini, sister taxon to Sericipterus.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.030| title = The Earliest Pterodactyloid and the Origin of the Group| journal = Current Biology| year = 2014| last1 = Andres | first1 = B. | last2 = Clark | first2 = J. | last3 = Xu | first3 = X. | pmid=24768054 | volume=24 | issue = 9| pages=1011–6| doi-access = free }}

{{clade| style=font-size:90%;line-height:90%

|label1=Novialoidea

|1={{clade

|1=Campylognathoides liasicus

|2=Campylognathoides zitteli

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|label2=Breviquartossa

|2={{clade

|label1=Rhamphorhynchidae

|1={{clade

|1=Scaphognathus crassirostris}}

|label2=Rhamphorhynchinae