The first ornithocheiromorph humerus from Wuerho (Urho), China, with a new isotopic age of the Tugulu Group
Abstract Pterosaur remains are rare from the lowermost Cretaceous, hampering our understanding of the taxonomic and morphological diversities of pterosaurs during this period. The Lower Cretaceous Tugulu Group in Wuerho, China is renowned for hosting the Wuerho Pterosaurian Fauna (WPF), which has so...
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Academia Brasileira de Ciências
2025-01-01
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| author | JUNYI SONG YUTING ZHONG SHUNXING JIANG XIAOLIN WANG |
| author_facet | JUNYI SONG YUTING ZHONG SHUNXING JIANG XIAOLIN WANG |
| author_sort | JUNYI SONG |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Pterosaur remains are rare from the lowermost Cretaceous, hampering our understanding of the taxonomic and morphological diversities of pterosaurs during this period. The Lower Cretaceous Tugulu Group in Wuerho, China is renowned for hosting the Wuerho Pterosaurian Fauna (WPF), which has so far yielded numerous fossil remains of two dsungaripterid pterosaurs, Dsungaripterus weii and Noripterus complicidens. Here we report a partial ornithocheiromorph humerus from the WPF, representing a deeply divergent clade from Dsungaripteridae. The scarcity of ornithocheiromorphs from the WPF might be interpreted by niche partitioning with dsungaripterids. Meanwhile, we also report a U-Pb zircon age of 134.27 ± 0.36 Ma dated by LA-ICP-MS for the tuffaceous layer at the uppermost part of the Shengjinkou Formation, confirming the Valanginian age of the WPF presented by a previous study. The Wuerho region is one of the few localities producing abundant pterosaur fossils and the only one with an earliest Cretaceous age. The new finding here also suggests that Ornithocheiromorpha had rapidly diversified and achieved a global distribution during the earliest Cretaceous, presumably through a series of modifications on the locomotor apparatus including the warped deltopectoral crest of the humerus, which might substantially improve their flight efficiency. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1d217993fb03495b99ba8619885304fe |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1678-2690 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Academia Brasileira de Ciências |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências |
| spelling | doaj-art-1d217993fb03495b99ba8619885304fe2025-02-04T07:37:44ZengAcademia Brasileira de CiênciasAnais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências1678-26902025-01-0197suppl 110.1590/0001-3765202520240557The first ornithocheiromorph humerus from Wuerho (Urho), China, with a new isotopic age of the Tugulu GroupJUNYI SONGhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0140-7462YUTING ZHONGhttps://orcid.org/0009-0002-4992-5226SHUNXING JIANGhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7524-1525XIAOLIN WANGhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2205-2103Abstract Pterosaur remains are rare from the lowermost Cretaceous, hampering our understanding of the taxonomic and morphological diversities of pterosaurs during this period. The Lower Cretaceous Tugulu Group in Wuerho, China is renowned for hosting the Wuerho Pterosaurian Fauna (WPF), which has so far yielded numerous fossil remains of two dsungaripterid pterosaurs, Dsungaripterus weii and Noripterus complicidens. Here we report a partial ornithocheiromorph humerus from the WPF, representing a deeply divergent clade from Dsungaripteridae. The scarcity of ornithocheiromorphs from the WPF might be interpreted by niche partitioning with dsungaripterids. Meanwhile, we also report a U-Pb zircon age of 134.27 ± 0.36 Ma dated by LA-ICP-MS for the tuffaceous layer at the uppermost part of the Shengjinkou Formation, confirming the Valanginian age of the WPF presented by a previous study. The Wuerho region is one of the few localities producing abundant pterosaur fossils and the only one with an earliest Cretaceous age. The new finding here also suggests that Ornithocheiromorpha had rapidly diversified and achieved a global distribution during the earliest Cretaceous, presumably through a series of modifications on the locomotor apparatus including the warped deltopectoral crest of the humerus, which might substantially improve their flight efficiency.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652025001001202&lng=en&tlng=enornithocheiromorphaTugulu GroupValanginianWuerho (Urho)China |
| spellingShingle | JUNYI SONG YUTING ZHONG SHUNXING JIANG XIAOLIN WANG The first ornithocheiromorph humerus from Wuerho (Urho), China, with a new isotopic age of the Tugulu Group Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências ornithocheiromorpha Tugulu Group Valanginian Wuerho (Urho) China |
| title | The first ornithocheiromorph humerus from Wuerho (Urho), China, with a new isotopic age of the Tugulu Group |
| title_full | The first ornithocheiromorph humerus from Wuerho (Urho), China, with a new isotopic age of the Tugulu Group |
| title_fullStr | The first ornithocheiromorph humerus from Wuerho (Urho), China, with a new isotopic age of the Tugulu Group |
| title_full_unstemmed | The first ornithocheiromorph humerus from Wuerho (Urho), China, with a new isotopic age of the Tugulu Group |
| title_short | The first ornithocheiromorph humerus from Wuerho (Urho), China, with a new isotopic age of the Tugulu Group |
| title_sort | first ornithocheiromorph humerus from wuerho urho china with a new isotopic age of the tugulu group |
| topic | ornithocheiromorpha Tugulu Group Valanginian Wuerho (Urho) China |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652025001001202&lng=en&tlng=en |
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