Eopteranodon

Name: Eopteranodon (Dawn Pteranodon).
Phonetic: E-oh-teh-ran-o-don (the P is silent and not pronounced).
Named By: L� Junchang & Xang Xingliao - 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Azhdarchoidea, Chaoyangopteridae.
Species: E. lii (type).
Type: Uncertain but presumed to be either a piscivore or carnivore.
Size: 1.1 meter wingspan. Skull 20 centimetres long.
Known locations: China, Liaoning Province, Yixian Formation.
Time period: Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Skull and partial post cranial remains.

       Eopteranodon gets its name from how its jaws and crest look like those on the more famous pterosaur Pteranodon that existed later in the Cretaceous of North America. Eopteranodon however was not only much smaller than Pteranodon but it is actually of a different pterosaur family.

Further reading
- New pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning. Geological Review 51(4):458-462. - J. L� & B. Zhang - 2005.

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