Huaxiadraco

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Early Cretaceous, {{fossilrange|120}}

| image = Huaxiapterus corollatus holotype.png

| image_caption = Holotype specimen

| taxon = Huaxiadraco

| authority = Pêgas et al., 2023

| type_species = {{extinct}}Huaxiapterus corollatus

| type_species_authority = Lü et al., 2006

| synonyms =

Huaxiapterus corollatus
(Lü et al., 2006)
Huaxiapterus benxiensis
(Lü et al., 2007)

}}

Huaxiadraco (meaning "Hua Xia [China] dragon") is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. It is the third valid genus of tapejarid from the Jehol Biota, after Sinopterus and Eopteranodon. It contains one species, Huaxiadraco corollatus, originally assigned to the defunct genus Huaxiapterus.{{Cite journal|last1=Pêgas |first1=R. V. |last2=Zhoi |first2=X. |last3=Jin |first3=X. |last4=Wang |first4=K. |last5=Ma |first5=W. |year=2023 |title=A taxonomic revision of the Sinopterus complex (Pterosauria, Tapejaridae) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, with the new genus Huaxiadraco |journal=PeerJ |volume=11 |at=e14829 |doi=10.7717/peerj.14829 |doi-access=free |pmid=36788812 |pmc=9922500 }}

History of discovery

File:Huaxiapterus benxiensis holotype.png of H. corollatus]]

Huaxiadraco is based on the holotype ZMNH M8131, a nearly complete skeleton. It was originally assigned to the genus Huaxiapterus by Lü Junchang and colleagues in 2006, under the binomial name Huaxiapterus corollatus.{{cite journal | last1 = Lü | first1 = J. | last2 = Jin | first2 = X. | last3 = Unwin | first3 = D.M. | last4 = Zhao | first4 = L. | last5 = Azuma | first5 = Y. | last6 = Ji | first6 = Q. | year = 2006 | title = A new species of Huaxiapterus (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China with comments on the systematics of tapejarid pterosaurs | doi = 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2006.tb00251.x | journal = Acta Geologica Sinica | volume = 80 | issue = 3| pages = 315–326 | bibcode = 2006AcGlS..80..315L | s2cid = 129851866 }} Lü et al. also named another species, Huaxiapterus benxiensis, a year later.{{cite journal | last1 = Junchang | first1 = Lü | last2 = Yubo | first2 = Gao | last3 = Lida | first3 = Xing | last4 = Zhixin | first4 = Li | last5 = Zhenyuan | first5 = Sun | year = 2007 | title = New species of Huaxiapterus from the Early Cretaceous of western Liaoning | journal = Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition | volume = 81 | issue = 5| pages = 683–687 | doi=10.1111/j.1755-6724.2007.tb00992.x| s2cid = 128877390 }} However, analyses have since found that these species are only distantly related to Huaxiapterus jii,{{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|bibcode=2014CBio...24.1011A }} the type species of Huaxiapterus, and thus require a new genus name.{{cite journal | last1 = Pinheiro | first1 = F.L. | last2 = Fortier | first2 = D.C. | last3 = Schultz | first3 = C.L. | last4 = De Andrade | first4 = J.A.F.G. | last5 = Bantim | first5 = R.A.M. | year = 2011| title = New information on Tupandactylus imperator, with comments on the relationships of Tapejaridae (Pterosauria) | journal = Acta Palaeontologica Polonica | volume = 56| pages = 567–580| doi = 10.4202/app.2010.0057 | doi-access = free }} A 2023 review of Chinese tapejarids by Pêgas et al. have confirmed these analyses, finding most of them (including Huaxipterus jii) to belong to the coeval Sinopterus dongi, although corollatus was found to belong to a distinct genus. They thus created Huaxiadraco for corollatus, synonymized benxiensis with it, and referred specimens D2525 (previously considered Sinopterus), BMPC 103, 104, and 105 to it.

Classification

Based on their reassessment of the Sinopterus species-complex, Pêgas et al. modified their working dataset, previously used in the redescription of Aerotitan.{{Cite journal |last1=Pêgas |first1=Rodrigo V. |last2=Holgado |first2=Borja |last3=Ortiz David |first3=Leonardo D. |last4=Baiano |first4=Mattia A. |last5=Costa |first5=Fabiana R. |date=January 2022 |title=On the pterosaur Aerotitan sudamericanus (Neuquén Basin, Upper Cretaceous of Argentina), with comments on azhdarchoid phylogeny and jaw anatomy |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=129 |pages=104998 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104998 |bibcode=2022CrRes.12904998P |issn=0195-6671}} Their cladogram is shown below:

{{clade

|label1=Tapejaromorpha

|1={{clade

|1=Thalassodromidae

|label2=Tapejaridae

|2={{clade

|label1=Caupedactylia

|1={{clade

|1=Caupedactylus ybaka

|2=Aymberedactylus cearensis }}

|label2=Eutapejaria

|2={{clade