Zhejiangopterus
Sign in to saveZhejiangopterus is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur known from one species, which lived in China during the late Cretaceous Period. The genus was named in 1994 by Chinese paleontologists Cai Zhengquan and Wei Feng. The type species is Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis. The genus name refers to Zhejiang Province and a Latinized Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name refers to the city of Linhai.
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Discovery
- Classification
- See also
- References
- External links
Zhejiangopterus is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur known from one species, which lived in China during the late Cretaceous Period. The genus was named in 1994 by Chinese paleontologists Cai Zhengquan and Wei Feng. The type species is Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis. The genus name refers to Zhejiang Province and a Latinized Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name refers to the city of Linhai.
== Discovery == thumb|left|Postcranial skeleton In April 1986 a young chalkstone quarry worker named Xu Chengfa, found a large fossil near the village of Aolicun in Linhai. Xu by letter informed the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History at Hangzhou, and Zhang Minghua of the museum understood the remains were those of an unknown pterosaur from it. Therefore, a team consisting of the describers and Wu Weitang were sent to investigate. They secured the fossil, instructing the local population to be alert for possible further finds. Xu himself managed to find three more specimens before being killed in an accident in 1988; another worker found a complete skull.