Name:
Boreopterus
(North wing).
Phonetic: Bo-re-op-teh-rus.
Named By: L� Jinchang & Ji Qiang - 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Pterosauria,
Pterodactyloidea, Ornithocheiroidea, Boreopteridae.
Species: B. curiae (type).
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: 1.45 meter wingspan. Skull 23.5 centimetres
long.
Known locations: China, Liaoning Province - Yixian
Formation.
Time period: Barremian to Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Skull and almost complete
skeleton.
Like
in other ornithocherid pterosaurs
the sharp teeth of Boreopterus
project out to the sides with the largest near the tip of the snout,
most notably the third and fourth pairs from the tip of the snout. When
the teeth near the tips of the jaws meshed together they made for an
effective prey trap. In total Boreopterus is
thought to have had at
least fifty-four teeth, making for an unusually high number.
Boreopterus
was initially placed within the Ornithocheiroidea until 2006 when L�
Jinchang created the Boreopteridae where Boreopterus
now sits along
with Feilongus.
Further reading
- A new ornithocheirid from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province,
China. - Acta Geologica Sinica 79 (2): 157–163. - Junchang L� &
Qiang Ji - 2005.