Nipponopterus
Sign in to saveNipponopterus (meaning "Nippon wing") is an extinct genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Turonian to Coniacian ages) in what is now Japan. It is known from a partial cervical (neck) vertebra found in the 'Upper Formation' of the Mifune Group, located in the Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyūshū. The genus contains a single species, Nipponopterus mifunensis, named and described in 2025. It is the first pterosaur to be named from Japan.
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4 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Description
- Classification
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Nipponopterus (meaning "Nippon wing") is an extinct genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Turonian to Coniacian ages) in what is now Japan. It is known from a partial cervical (neck) vertebra found in the 'Upper Formation' of the Mifune Group, located in the Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyūshū. The genus contains a single species, Nipponopterus mifunensis, named and described in 2025. It is the first pterosaur to be named from Japan.
Morphologically, Nipponopterus is similar to the Mongolian genus Gobiazhdarcho. Both are estimated to have had a wingspan measuring around when fully grown. Nipponopterus is a member of the clade Quetzalcoatlinae within the family Azhdarchidae.
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AzhdarchidaeConiacian generaCretaceous JapanFossils of JapanFossil taxa described in 2025Late Cretaceous pterosaurs of AsiaMonotypic prehistoric reptile generaPterosaur generaTaxonbars of monotypic genera missing species on WikidataTaxonbars with multiple manual Wikidata itemsTaxonbars without primary Wikidata taxon IDsTaxonbars without secondary Wikidata taxon IDs