Forfexopterus

Forfexopterus (meaning "scissor wings") is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in China. It contains a single species, F. jeholensis, named from a mostly complete skeleton by Shunxing Jiang and colleagues in 2016. A second specimen, consisting of a wing, was described in 2020. While the first specimen is larger, it shows signs of being less mature than the second specimen, indicating that the developmental trajectories of Forfexopterus were variable. Like other ctenochasmatids, Forfexopterus had a long, low skull filled with many slender teeth; unlike other members of the group, however, it did not have a spatula-shaped snout tip or crests, and its teeth were more curved. A single characteristic distinguishes Forfexopterus from all other members of the wider group Archaeopterodactyloidea: of the four phalanx bones in its wing finger, the first was shorter than the second but longer than the third.

==Discovery and naming== thumb|left|Life reconstruction of Forfexopterus The holotype specimen of Forfexopterus was discovered by a local farmer, who had partially damaged this specimen while attempting to remove the encasing rock; the specimen was later restored. The specimen, which has the number HM (Hami Museum) V20, represents a single individual, and consists of a mostly complete skeleton including the skull but missing most of the vertebral column. It was discovered in rocks belonging to the Jiufotang Formation, dating to approximately 120 million years ago (the Aptian age), in the Xiaotaizi locality near Lamadong Town, Jianchang County, Liaoning, China. It was described in 2016 by Shunxing Jiang and colleagues.