Chaoyangopterus

Name: Chaoyangopterus (Chaoyang wing).
Phonetic: Chow-yang-op-teh-rus.
Named By: Wang & Zhou - 2003.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Azhdarchoidea, Chaoyangopteridae.
Species: C. zhangi (type).
Type: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: 1.85 meter wingspan.
Known locations: China, Liaoning Province - Jiufotang formation.
Time period: Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial skeleton.

       Determining the phylogenetic position of Chaoyangopterus was problematic to the extent that the Chaoyangopteridae has now been created within the Azhdarchoidea to accommodate it and other similar pterosaurs. Chaoyangopterus is toothless and is thought to have been a piscivore.

Further reading
- Two new pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China. - Vertebrata PalAsiatica 41(1):34-41. - X.-L. Wang & Z.-H. Zhou - 2003.

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