Vesperopterylus lamadongensis

Vesperopterylus is a genus of anurognathid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of China, the geologically youngest member of its group. Notably, Vesperopterylus appears to have a reversed first toe, which would have been suited for gripping; it was likely arboreal, climbing or clinging to tree branches with curved, sharp claws. It also has a relatively short tail, in contrast with its tailless (Jeholopterus) and long-tailed (Dendrorhynchoides) relatives. It was first described and named by Lü Junchang et al. While the original spelling of the name was Versperopterylus, this was a typo, and was emended by the authors in accordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.

Vesperopterylus lamadongensis

Paleo Miguel · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
VesperopterylusPBDB
Diet
piscivorePBDB, for Pterosauria
Life habit
volantPBDB, for Pterosauria
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Pterosauria

Time the record covers

At most 8.2 million years on record.

The one occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 121.4 Mya and 113.2 Mya, which is a dating window rather than a span.

Early Cretaceous — about 1 of 1 occurrenceEarly Cretaceous122–121 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences121–121 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences121–121 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences121–120 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences120–120 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences120–120 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences120–119 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences119–119 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences119–119 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences119–119 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences119–118 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences118–118 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences118–118 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences118–117 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences117–117 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences117–117 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences117–116 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences116–116 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences116–116 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences116–115 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences115–115 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences115–115 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences115–115 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences115–114 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences114–114 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences114–114 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences114–113 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences113–113 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences121.9 Mya112.7 Mya

1 occurrence of Vesperopterylus lamadongensis on record, most of them in the Early Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Jiufotang — 40.65°N, 119.69°E

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The named rock units Vesperopterylus lamadongensis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Vesperopterylus lamadongensis and its relatives

Early Cretaceous

Where Vesperopterylus lamadongensis and its relatives were recorded in the Early Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

13 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 1 site for Vesperopterylus lamadongensis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

1 reference

Each of the 1 occurrence read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Vesperopterylus lamadongensis

Credit
Paleo Miguel
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Vesperopterylus lamadongensis was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itVesperopterylus through timeFormations of the Early CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Lu et al. 2017