Editing Dsungaripterus

{{Short description|Genus of dsungaripterid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Dsungaripterus_weii_01.jpg
| image_caption = Reconstructed skeleton
| fossil_range = [[Early Cretaceous]], {{fossilrange|Valanginian|latest=Albian}}
| genus = Dsungaripterus
| parent_authority = Young, 1964
| species = weii
| authority = Young, 1964
| display_parents = 2
}}

'''''Dsungaripterus''''' is a [[genus]] of [[dsungaripterid]] [[pterosaur]] which lived during the [[Early Cretaceous]] in what is now [[China]] and possibly [[South Korea]]. Its fossils come from the Wuerho Pterosaur Fauna group (WPF) of the [[Tugulu Group]], comprising sections of the [[Lianmuqin Formation|Lianmuqin]] and [[Shengjinkou Formation|Shengjinkou Formations]] of the [[Junggar Basin]]. Both formations have been given various age estimates, with data suggesting at least some of the WPF date to the middle [[Valanginian]], but the upper and lower bounds of these pterosaur bearing deposits remain unclear.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Song |first1=J. |last2=Zhong |first2=Y. |last3=Jiang |first3=S. |last4=Wang |first4=X. |year=2025 |title=The first ornithocheiromorph humerus from Wuerho (Urho), China, with a new isotopic age of the Tugulu Group |journal=Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências |volume=97 |issue=Suppl. 1 |at=e20240557 |doi=10.1590/0001-3765202520240557 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Dsungaripterus_weii.png|upright|thumb|left|Restoration of ''Dsungaripterus'']]
''Dsungaripterus weii'' had a wingspan of {{convert|3|-|3.5|m|ft}}.<ref name=Young1964>{{cite journal|last1=Young|first1=C.-C.|year=1964|title=On a new pterosaurian from Sinkiang, China|journal=Vertebrate PalAsiatica|pages=221–225|url=https://doc.rero.ch/record/14833/files/PAL_E1958.pdf}}</ref> Like most dsungaripteroids it had a rather robust skeleton with thick walls and stouty bodily proportions, suggesting a mostly terrestrial lifestyle. The flight style of these animals is unclear, but it was probably punctuated by abrupt landings and extensive flapping.<ref>Witton, Mark (2013). Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton University Press. p. 51. {{ISBN|978-0691150611}}.</ref>

The skull of ''Dsungaripterus'', measuring over {{convert|46|cm|sp=us}} long,<ref name=D2020/> bore a low bone crest that ran down from the base of the skull to halfway to the beak. ''Dsungaripterus'''s head and neck were together almost {{convert|1|m|ft|sp=us}} long. Its most notable feature are its long, narrow, upcurved jaws with a pointed tip. It had no teeth in the front part of its jaws, which were probably used to remove prey from cracks in rocks and/or the sandy, muddy inland environments it inhabited. It had knobbly flat teeth more to the back of the jaw that were well suited for crushing the armor of shellfish or other hard objects.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999|title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher=Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 105|isbn= 1-84028-152-9}}</ref> Thus, it is commonly interpreted that dsungaripterids were [[durophagy|durophagous]] and possibly [[piscivory|piscivorous]] pterosaurs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bestwick |first1=Jordan |last2=Unwin |first2=David M. |last3=Butler |first3=Richard J. |last4=Henderson |first4=Donald M. |last5=Purnell |first5=Mark A. |date=November 2018 |title=Pterosaur dietary hypotheses: a review of ideas and approaches  |journal=Biological Reviews |language=en |volume=93 |issue=4 |pages=2021–2048 |doi=10.1111/brv.12431 |pmc=6849529 |pmid=29877021}}</ref> Additionally, ''Dsungaripterus'' also had a palate similar to that of [[azhdarchoid]]s.<ref name=D2020>{{Cite journal|title=New anatomical information on Dsungaripterus weii Young, 1964 with focus on the palatal region|first1=He|last1=Chen|first2=Shunxing|last2=Jiang|first3=Alexander W. A.|last3=Kellner|first4=Xin|last4=Cheng|first5=Xinjun|last5=Zhang|first6=Rui|last6=Qiu|first7=Yang|last7=Li|first8=Xiaolin|last8=Wang|date=April 1, 2020|journal=PeerJ|volume=8|pages=e8741|doi=10.7717/peerj.8741|pmid=32274262|pmc=7127482|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==History of discovery==
[[File:Dsungaripterus-Paleozoological Museum of China.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Holotype specimen, [[Paleozoological Museum of China]]]]
''Dsungaripterus'' was described in 1964 named by [[Yang Zhongjian]]. The genus name combines a reference to the Junggar Basin with a Latinized Greek ''pteron'', "wing". The [[type species]] is ''Dsungaripterus weii'', the [[specific name (zoology)|specific name]] honoring paleontologist C.M. Wei of the Palaeontological Division, Institute of Science, Bureau of Petroleum of [[Xinjiang]]. The [[holotype]] is IVPP V-2776, a partial skull and skeleton from the [[Lianmuqin Formation]].<ref name=Young1964/> In 1973, more material has been found within the [[Shengjinkou Formation]], which includes almost complete skulls.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Young|first1=C.-C.|year=1973|title=Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II). Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang|journal=Academy Sinica: Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Paleoanthropology|pages=18–35}}</ref>

In 1980 [[Peter Galton]] renamed ''Pterodactylus brancai'' (Reck 1931) from the [[Tendaguru Formation]] into ''Dsungaripterus brancai'', but the identification is now commonly rejected.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Martill, D.M. |author2=Frey, E. |author3=Diaz, G.C. |author4=Bell, C.M. |year=2000 |title=Reinterpretation of a Chilean pterosaur and the occurrence of Dsungeripteridae in South America. |journal=Geological Magazine |volume=137 |issue=1 |pages=19–25 |doi=10.1017/S0016756800003502 |bibcode=2000GeoM..137...19M |s2cid=128593191 |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/14811/files/PAL_E1969.pdf }}</ref> In 1982 [[Natasha Bakhurina]] named a new species, ''Dsungaripterus parvus'', based on a smaller skeleton from [[Mongolia]]. Later, this was renamed into "Phobetor", a preoccupied name, and in 2009 concluded to be identical to ''[[Noripterus]]''. A [[Dsungaripteridae|dsungaripterid]] wing finger phalanx was reported in 2002 from the [[Hasandong Formation]] of [[South Korea]],<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lim|first1=Jong-Deock|last2=Baek|first2=Kwang-Seok|last3=Yang|first3=Seung Young|year=2002|title=A new record of a pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Korea|journal=Current Science|volume=82|issue=10|pages=1208–1210|jstor=24107042 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24107042}}</ref> and was identified in 2015 and 2018 as ''Dsungaripterus''? cf. ''D. weii''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Yang|first=S.Y.|year=2015|title=Study history and research ethics of the dinosaur, pterosaur and bird tracks from Korea|journal=Journal of the Geological Society of Korea|volume=51|issue=2|pages=127–140|doi=10.14770/jgsk.2015.51.2.127}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kim|first1=Jeong Yul|last2=Huh|first2=Min|year=2018|title=Dinosaurs, Birds, and Pterosaurs of Korea: A Paradise of Mesozoic Vertebrates|url=https://www.geokniga.org/bookfiles/geokniga-dinosaurs.pdf|publisher=Springer Nature|isbn=978-981-10-6998-7}}</ref>

==Classification==
[[File:Dsungaripterus skull at IVPP.jpg|thumb|Skull IVPP V4064, [[Paleozoological Museum of China]]]]
[[File:Dsungaripterus skeletal.jpg|thumb|upright|Skeletal reconstruction]] 
''Dsungaripterus'' was classified by Yang as a member of the [[Dsungaripteridae]]. Below is a [[cladogram]] showing the results of a [[phylogenetic]] analysis presented by Andres and colleagues in 2014. They recovered ''Dsungaripterus'' within the clade [[Dsungaripteromorpha]] (a subgroup within the Azhdarchoidea), more specifically within the Dsungaripteridae, sister taxon to ''[[Domeykodactylus]]''. Their cladogram is shown below.<ref name=kryptodrakon>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.030| title = The Earliest Pterodactyloid and the Origin of the Group| journal = Current Biology| year = 2014| last1 = Andres | first1 = B. | last2 = Clark | first2 = J. | last3 = Xu | first3 = X. | pmid=24768054 | volume=24 | issue = 9| pages=1011–6| doi-access = free | bibcode = 2014CBio...24.1011A}}</ref>

{{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%
|label1=[[Dsungaripteromorpha]]
|1={{clade
|label1=[[Dsungaripteridae]]
|1={{clade
|label1=[[Dsungaripterinae]]
|1={{clade
|1='''''Dsungaripterus weii'''''
|2=''[[Domeykodactylus ceciliae]]'' [[File:Domeykodactylus (1).jpg|25px]]
}}
|label2=[[Noripterinae]]
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Noripterus parvus]]''
|2=''[[Noripterus complicidens]]''
}}
}}
|label2=[[Thalassodrominae]]
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Thalassodromeus sethi]]''
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Tupuxuara longicristatus]]''
|2=''[[Tupuxuara leonardii]]''
}} 
}}
}}
}}

In 2019, a different topology, this time by Kellner and colleagues, was published. In this study, ''Dsungaripterus'' was recovered outside the Azhdarchoidea, within the larger group [[Tapejaroidea]], sister taxon to ''Noripterus''. The cladogram of the analysis is shown below.<ref name="Kellner2019">{{Cite journal|last1=Kellner|first1=Alexander W. A.|last2=Weinschütz|first2=Luiz C.|last3=Holgado|first3=Borja|last4=Bantim|first4=Renan A. M.|last5=Sayão|first5=Juliana M.|date=August 19, 2019|title=A new toothless pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea) from Southern Brazil with insights into the paleoecology of a Cretaceous desert|journal=Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências|language=en|volume=91|issue=suppl 2|pages=e20190768|doi=10.1590/0001-3765201920190768|pmid=31432888|issn=0001-3765|doi-access=free}}</ref>

{{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%
| label1=[[Tapejaroidea]]
| 1={{clade
| label1=[[Dsungaripteridae]]
| 1={{clade
| 1='''''Dsungaripterus weii'''''
| 2=''[[Noripterus parvus]]''
}}
| label2=[[Azhdarchoidea]]
| 2={{clade
| 1={{clade
| 1=[[Azhdarchidae]]
| 2=[[Chaoyangopteridae]]
}}
| label2=[[Tapejaromorpha]]
| 2={{clade
| 1=''[[Keresdrakon vilsoni]]''
| label2=[[Tapejaridae]]
| 2={{clade
| 1=[[Thalassodrominae]]
| 2=[[Tapejarinae]]
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}

==See also==
{{commons category|Dsungaripterus}}
* [[List of pterosaur genera]]
* [[Timeline of pterosaur research]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Pterosauria|Az.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q132573}}
{{Portal bar|Paleontology|China}}

[[Category:Dsungaripteridae]]
[[Category:Early Cretaceous pterosaurs of Asia]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Yang Zhongjian]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1964]]