Genus
Valid Extinct

Sinopterus

Wang and Zhou 2002

Sinopterus is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. It was first described and named by Wang Xiaolin and Zhou Zhonghe. Historically, there were multiple species attributed to the genus although only one is considered to be valid. Sinopterus is known for its proportionally large skull, which has a bird-like pointed beak lacking teeth, and a long bony crest that starts with a tall premaxilla and goes back along the middle of the skull to form a point overhanging the rear of the skull. Direct dietary evidence based on gut contents suggest that Sinopterus is a herbivore.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
3
Group
Ptérosaures
Frugivore, piscivore Volant Marine
Sinopterus
click to enlarge
Fossil specimen of early Cretaceous pterosaur Sinopterus dongi, which is collected from Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. The specimen (BMNHC Ph773) is a collection of Beijing Museum of Natural History and was on display in the National Museum of Natural Science (Taichung, Taiwan) during a special exhibition. © Tiouraren (Y.-C. Tsai) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Pterosauria Order
Pterodactyloidea Suborder
Azhdarchoidea Superfamily
Neoazhdarchia Unranked clade
Tapejaroidea Superfamily
Tapejaridae Family
Sinopterus Genus
Fossil sites 3 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
3
Geological formations
Temporal distribution
Aptian (121.4–113.2 Ma)
3
Species (2)
Sinopterus dongi 121 Ma
Sinopterus gui 121 Ma
Images 2
Bibliography
Original description
X. Wang and Z. Zhou. 2002. A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea, Tapejaridae) from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China and its implications for biostratigraphy. Chinese Science Bulletin 47(20):1521-1527 DOI ↗
Bibliography (3)
J. Lü, J. Liu, and C. Gao, Q. Meng, Q. Ji. 2006. New material of pterosaur Sinopterus (Reptilia: Pterosauria) from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, Western Liaoning, China. Acta Geologica Sinica 80(6):783-789
J.-J. Li, J.-C. Lü, and B.-K. Zhang. 2003. A new Lower Cretaceous sinopteroid pterosaur from western Liaoning, China. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 42(3):442-447
X. Wang and Z. Zhou. 2002. A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea, Tapejaridae) from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China and its implications for biostratigraphy. Chinese Science Bulletin 47(20):1521-1527 DOI ↗