Pterorhynchus wellnhoferi (Czerkas and Ji 2002) Callovian, Middle Jurassic ~165mya, preserved a lot of soft tissue, from the head crests and chin wattle to the wings to the tail vanelets running its length. Derived from a sister to Sordes, Pterorhynchus phylogenetically preceded Scaphognathus, Kunpengopterus, Darwinopterus and Wukongopterus.

Distinct from Sordes, the skull of Pterorhynchus was longer with a much larger antorbital fenestra. The naris was reduced to a slit dorsal to it. No posterior teeth were present. The ventral mandible was convex. The quadrate leaned posteriorly.

The dorsals were longer creating a longer (taller) torso. The caudals were elongated but no vane was present at the tip. Instead small vanes appeared along the entire posterior half of the tail.

The sternal complex was much larger. The scapula and coracoid were fused. The humerus was also much larger, especially relative to the rather small scapula and coracoid. The wing was much more gracile and, when folded, extended above the skull.

The prepubis was robust and to carry it, the pubis was thicker. The hind limbs were more gracile. The pes was little changed.

The base of the Scaphognathia. Sordes, Pterorhynchus, Kunpengopterus, Darwinopterus and Scaphognathus in phylogenetic order. The darwinopterids were originally considered transitional taxa between primitive long-tailed pterosaurs and later short-tailed pterosaurs (Lü et al. 2010). Here darwinopterids were derived from Pterorhynchus, which also lost the external naris.

The referred specimen of Changchengopterus (PMOL-AP00010, Zhou and Schoch 2011) is not related to the holotype of Changchengopterus (CYGB-0036). Rather it nests between Pterorhynchus and Kunpengopterus.

The Skye pterosaur (Martin-Silverstone, Unwin and Barrett 2019; Middle Jurassic) nests close to Pterorhynchus in the LPT. Short robust teeth line the anterior jaws. The femur is more robust than the humerus. The coracoid has a distinct shape, according to the authors.

Czerkas SA and Ji Q 2002. A new rhamphorhynchoid with a headcrest and complex integumentary structures. In: Czerkas SJ ed. Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origin of Flight. The Dinosaur Museum:Blanding, Utah, 15-41. ISBN 1-93207-501-1.

Lü J, Unwin DM, Jin X, Liu Y and Ji Q 2009. Evidence for modular evolution in a long-tailed pterosaur with a pterodactyloid skull. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B (DOI 10.1098/rspb.2009.1603.)

Lü J, Xu L, Chang H and Zhang X 2011b. A new darwinopterid pterosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Western Liaoning, northeastern China and its ecological implicaitions. Acta Geologica Sinica 85: 507-514.

Martin-Silverstone E, Unwin DM and Barrett PM 2019. A new, three-dimensionally preserved monofenestratan pterosaur form the Middle Jurassic of Scotland and the complex evolutionary history of the scapulo-vertebrael articulation. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology abstracts.

Zhou C-F and Schoch RR 2011. New material of the non-pterodactyloid pterosaur Changchengopterus pani LÜ, 2009 from the Late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of western Liaoning. N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Abh. 260/3, 265–275 published online March 2011.

wiki/Darwinopterus
wiki/Pterorhynchus
Czerkas/Pterorhynchus