Shenzhoupterus, Wellhopterus, SDUST V1014, and Mistralazhdarcho

At left is the original interpretation (Lü et al. 2008) of the skull of Shenzhoupterus.
At right is a complete reconstruction based on the work shown below. Lü et al. (2008) did not notice that the sternal complex had drifted to lie beneath the skull (see below).

Shenzhoupterus chaoyangensis IHGM 41HIII-305A (Lü et al. 2008) ~120 mya, Aptian, Early Cretaceous, ~4.6 m wingspan was originally considered a sister to Chaoyangopterus and Jidapterus. Unfortunately these four actually comprise two unrelated clades far removed from each other and distinct from Shenzhoupterus. Derived from a sister to Nemicolopterus, Shenzhoupterus was the last known representative of this lineage.

Distinct from Nemicolopterus, the skull of Shenzhoupterus had a taller antorbital fenestra, a taller subdivided orbit and a thinner, longer posterior crest. The mandible was deeper.

The cervicals were elongated and quite gracile. The torso was deep, short and compact, almost spherical. The sacrals equaled the dorsals in length. The caudals were vestigial.

The sternal complex was square. The humerus extended to the pubis. The wing was gracile.

The pelvis was larger and the prepubis was much deeper. The hind limb was longer and more robust. Pedal digit I was short, as in Noripterus, and the ungual did not align with II-IV.

The family tree of the Ornithocephalia and Germanodactylia is here. The expanded family tree of the Pterosauria is here.

The original inspectors (Lü et al. 2008) of Shenzhoupterus could not decipher the skull (see image above). And no wonder! It's a crushed mess. Moreover they did not anticipate or notice the sternal complex (st) that had drifted there. On the right the skull bones are deciphered and reconstructed (above). The sternal comlex (st) is identified. Most of the bones from the right side of the face are not shown for clarity. Here the technique of digital graphic segregation using photographs proved superior to first-hand observation.

Here the fingers of Shenzhoupterus were traced using DGS and reconstructed.

The technique of digital graphic segregation (dgs) has been widely, harshly and unfairly criticized, but the results, as you can see, can be superior to on-sight and first-hand interpretation, as is the case here. This technique was also used to decipher the pterosaur embryos here, here and here. The correct interpretation of elements is essential for scoring in phylogenetic analysis. These tests indicate that dgs has research value.

Shenzhoupterus sanyainus compared to the holotype

Shenzhoupterus sanyainus (Ji, Zhang and Lu 2023, Early Cretaceous, China, 80cm long) nests as a sister to the genus holotype, Shenzhoupterus chaoyangenis, with distinct proportions including feet no larger than the smaller holotype. Note the longer tibia and metacarpus. The pelvis is smaller on the larger species.

Wellnopterus brevirostris (Andres and Langston 2021, Late Cretaceous) was considered a tapejarid, then an azhdarchid, but here nests with Shenzhoupterus, only much larger and later.

Shenzhoupterus is featured in

Andres B and Langston W Jr 2021. Morphology and taxonomy of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 19 41(2):46–202.

Campos HBN 2021. A new azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous Javelina Formationof Texas. Biologia doi:10.1007/s11756-021-00841-7

Ji S, Zhang L and Lu F 2023. A new species of chaoyangopterid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous in western Liaoning, Peoples Republic of China. Acta Geoogica Sinica 97(6): 1–18 in Chinese with an English abstract.

Lü J, Unwin DM, Xu L and Zhang X 2008. A new azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China and its implications for pterosaur phylogeny and evolution. Naturwissenschaften 95 (9): online (preprint). doi:10.1007/s00114-008-0397-5. PMID 18509616.

wiki/Shenzhoupterus
wiki/Javelinadactylus = Wellnopterus

Eopteranodontia

Shenzhoupteridae

Shenzhoupterus

Dsungaripteridae

Dsungaripterus

Noripterus

Tapejaridae