A new Early Cretaceous pterosaur from the Ordos region, Inner Mongolia

doi:10.13745/j.esf.sf.2020.6.14

Abstract

Abstract:

The western Ordos region in Inner Mongolia, including Hanggin Banner and Otog Banner, is one of the most important localities yielding the Early Cretaceous Psittacosaurus Fauna across northern China. No pterosaur material had been formally depicted until Ordosipterus planignathus was named and described in the early 2020. Here, we report a new partial pterosaur mandibular symphysis discovered at the Zhaoshao site in the Luohandong Formation in Otog Banner. Its mandibular symphysis is long and straight and bears a developed lateral ridge that divided the dentary lateral side into the upper and lower parts. Nearly round dentary alveoli of each side lie just above the lateral ridge along a straight line anteroposteriorly. The diameters of alveoli (2-2.5 mm) vary slightly from rostral to caudal. The distance between the adjacent alveoli is about half the diameter of either alveolus. The tooth density is 3 teeth per centimeter. This pterosaur could be assigned to the family Ctenochasmatidae, it represents a new taxon-Otogopterus haoae gen.et sp.nov. The generic name refers to the type locality (Otog Banner) of this pterosaur, and the species name is in honour of Prof. Hao Yichun, who made outstanding contributions on the Mesozoic paleontology and stratigraphy in China. This new fossil is the second definitive pterosaur kind in the Inner Mongolian Ordos region following Ordosipterus planignathus, further enriching the components of the Early Cretaceous vertebrate fauna in this region. This pterosaur is also the second ctenochasmatid taxon in the Ordos Basin, after Huanhepterus quingyangensis from eastern Gansu Province. The new finding enlarged the geographical distribution of ctenochasmatid pterosaurs in the Ordos Basin and revealed the Ordos Basin to be another important distribution area of Ctenochasmatidae in China.

Key words: Ordos, Otog Banner, Early Cretaceous, Ctenochasmatidae, Otogopterus gen.nov.

CLC Number:

JI Shu’an, ZHANG Lifu. A new Early Cretaceous pterosaur from the Ordos region, Inner Mongolia[J]. Earth Science Frontiers, 2020, 27(6): 365-370.

Figures/Tables 2

References 33

[1]	DONG Z M. Early Cretaceous dinosaur faunas in China: an introduction[J]. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 1993, 30(10&11): 2096-2100. DOI URL
[2]	WU X C, BRINKMAN D B, LÜ J C. A new species of Shantungosuchus from the Lower Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (China), with comments on S.chuhsienensis Young, 1961 and the phylogenetic position of the genus[J]. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 1994, 14(2): 210-229. DOI URL
[3]	WU X C, SUES H D, BRINKMAN D B. An atoposaurid neosuchian (Archosauria: Crocodyliformes) from the Lower Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (People’s Republic of China)[J]. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 1996, 33(4): 599-605. DOI URL
[4]	GODEFROIT P, GUO D Y. A new amphilestid mammal from the Early Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (P R China)[J]. Bulletin de l’Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belqique, Sciences de la Terre, 1999, 69(Suppl B): 7-16.
[5]	TONG H Y, BRINKMAN D B. A new species of Sinemys (Testudines: Cryptodira: Sinemydidae) from the Early Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China[J]. Palaeobiodiversity & Palaeoenvironments, 2013, 93(3): 355-366.
[6]	姬书安, 蒋珊, 张笠夫, 等. 内蒙古鄂尔多斯早白垩世甲龙类胃石与鳞片印痕化石的发现[J]. 地球科学前沿, 2016, 6(5): 355-360.
[7]	姬书安, 卢立伍, 张笠夫, 等. 内蒙古鄂尔多斯地区早白垩世恐龙动物群研究新进展[J]. 中国地质, 2017, 44(1): 196-197.
[8]	HOU Y D, ZHANG L F, JIANG S, et al. Sauropod teeth from the Lower Cretaceous Luohandong Formation of Ordos Basin, Inner Mongolia[J]. Acta Geologica Sinica, 2017, 91(3): 791-796. DOI URL
[9]	侯彦冬, 姬书安. 内蒙古鄂尔多斯盆地下白垩统罗汉洞组剑龙类化石新材料[J]. 地质通报, 2017, 36(7): 1097-1103.
[10]	姬书安, 陈晓云. 内蒙古鄂托克旗早白垩世龟类化石一新种[J]. 地质学报, 2018, 92(4): 629-637.
[11]	BRINKMAN D B, PENG J H. Ordosemys leios, n.gen., n.sp., a new turtle from the Early Cretaceous of the Ordos Basin, Inner Mongolia[J]. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 1993, 30(10&11): 2128-2138. DOI URL
[12]	RUSSELL D A, DONG Z M. A nearly complete skeleton of a new troodontid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of the Ordos Basin, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China[J]. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 1993, 30(10&11): 2163-2173. DOI URL
[13]	DONG Z M. A new species of stegosaur (Dinosauria) from the Ordos Basin, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China[J]. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 1993, 30(10&11): 2177-2179. DOI URL
[14]	JI S A. First record of Early Cretaceous pterosaur from the Ordos Region, Inner Mongolia, China[J]. China Geology, 2020, 3(1): 1-7.
[15]	内蒙古自治区地质矿产局. 内蒙古岩石地层[M]. 武汉: 中国地质大学出版社, 1996: 269-272.
[16]	UNWIN D M. On the phylogeny and evolutionary history of pterosaurs[J]. Geological Society Special Publication, 2003, 217: 139-190. DOI URL
[17]	KELLNER A W A. Pterosaur phylogeny and comments on the evolutionary history of the group[J]. Geological Society Special Publication, 2003, 217: 105-137. DOI URL
[18]	ANDRES B, CLARK J M, XU X. The earliest pterodactyloid and the origin of the group[J]. Current Biology, 2014, 24(9): 1011-1016. DOI URL
[19]	吴肖春, 李锦玲, 汪筱林, 等. 中国古脊椎动物志(第二卷两栖类爬行类鸟类, 第四册基干主龙型类鳄型类翼龙类)[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 2017: 114-248.
[20]	WELLNHOFER P. Handbuch der Paläeoherpetologie, 19 Pterosauria[M]. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag, 1978: 1-82.
[21]	WELLNHOFER P. The illustrated encyclopedia of Pterosauria[M]. London: Salamander Books Ltd, 1991: 1-192.
[22]	董枝明. 鄂尔多斯盆地一翼龙化石[J]. 古脊椎动物学报, 1982, 20(2): 115-121.
[23]	姬书安, 季强. 辽宁西部翼龙类化石的首次发现[J]. 地质学报, 1997, 71(1): 1-6.
[24]	LÜ J C. A new pterosaur: Beipiaopterus chenianus, gen.et sp.nov. (Reptilia: Pterosauria) from western Liaoning Province of China[J]. Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, 2003, 2: 153-160.
[25]	汪筱林, 周忠和. 热河生物群翼龙的适应辐射及其古环境背景[C]// 戎嘉余. 生物的起源、辐射与多样性演变: 华夏化石记录的启示. 北京: 科学出版社, 2006: 665-689.
[26]	WANG X L, KELLNER A W A, ZHOU Z H, et al. A new pterosaur (Ctenochasmatidae, Archaeopterodactyloidea) from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China[J]. Cretaceous Research, 2007, 28(2): 245-260. DOI URL
[27]	WANG X L, DONG Z M. Order Pterosauria[C]//LI J L, WU X C, ZHANG F C. The Chinese fossil reptiles and their kin. Beijing: Science Press, 2008: 215-234.
[28]	JIANG S X, WANG X L. Important features of Gegepterus changae (Pterosauria: Archaeopterodactyloidea, Ctenochasmatidae) from a new specimen[J]. Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 2011, 49(2): 172-184.
[29]	ANDRES B, JI Q. A new pterosaur from the Liaoning Province of China, the phylogeny of the Pterodactyloidea, and convergence in their cervical vertebrae[J]. Palaeontology, 2008, 51(2): 453-469. DOI URL
[30]	JIANG S X, WANG X L. A new ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous, western Liaoning, China[J]. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 2011, 83(4): 1243-1249. DOI URL
[31]	JIANG S X, CHENG X, MA Y X, et al. A new archaeopterodactyloid pterosaur from the Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China, with a comparison of sterna in Pterodactylomorpha[J]. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2016, 36(6): e1212058. DOI URL
[32]	ZHOU C F, GAO K Q, YI H, et al. Earliest filter-feeding pterosaur from the Jurassic of China and ecological evolution of Pterodactyloidea[J]. Royal Society Open Science, 2017, 4(2): 160-672.
[33]	席党鹏, 万晓樵, 李国彪, 等. 中国白垩纪综合地层和时间框架[J]. 中国科学: 地球科学, 2019, 49(1): 257-288.