Pangupterus
Genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous
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Pangupterus (meaning Pangu wing) is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of China. It was first described and named by Lü Junchang et al.[1]
| Pangupterus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Genus: | †Pangupterus Lü et al., 2016 |
| Species: | †P. liui |
| Binomial name | |
| †Pangupterus liui Lü et al., 2016 | |
It is known from a mostly-complete lower jaw, which bears 36 slender, evenly-spaced, conical teeth jutting out at an angle on its tip. Some teeth are smaller than the others, and appear to be replacement teeth. The teeth had a relatively high density of over 4 per centimetre (10/in), although the spaces between the teeth were wider than the diameter of the teeth themselves.[2] Such teeth are not seen in any other toothed pterosaurs from the Jiufotang Formation with comparable material, and this specialized dental morphology is indicative of a piscivorous lifestyle.[1]
Although no phylogenetic analysis was conducted to determine its affinities, Pangupterus has a small process, called an odontoid, on the end of the maxilla; such a process is also seen in the istiodactylids Longchengpterus and Istiodactylus.[1][3] In 2022, Chang-Fu Zhou and colleagues identified Pangupterus as a member of the Ctenochasmatidae without comment.[2]
