Ningchengopterus

Ningchengopterus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Aptian stage). Its fossil remains were found in the Yixian Formation of what is now China.

==Discovery and naming== It is known from a juvenile specimen, holotype CYGB-0035, an almost complete articulated skeleton of a hatchling also showing soft parts, such as the flight membrane and pycnofibres, compressed on a plate and counterplate. It was the first small toothed pterodactyloid pterosaur specimen found in China. The type species Ningchengopterus liuae was named and described by Lü Junchang in 2009. The genus name combines a reference to the Ningcheng district in Inner Mongolia with a Latinised Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name honours Ms Liu Jingyi who collected the fossil and donated it to science.