Darwinopterus modularis, D. linglongtaensis, D. robustodens
D. modularis by Joschua Knüppe, retrieved from http://www.pteros.com/, a website dedicated to education about Pterosaurs.
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Name: Darwinopterus modularis, D. linlongtaensis, D. robustodens
Name Meaning: Darwin’s Wing
First Described: 2010
Described By: Lü et al.
Classification: Avemetatarsalia, Ornithodira, Pterosauromorpha, Pterosauria, Macronychoptera, Novialoidea, Breviquartossa, Pterodactylomorpha, Monofenestrata, Darwinoptera, Wukongopteridae
Darwinopterus is another Wukongopterid, and an important one in that it showed a very unique combination of derived and basal Pterosaur characteristics for the first time, with a long tail (similar to early derived Pterosaurs) and long neck vertebrae and a single skull opening in front of the eyes like later derived forms.
D. robustodens by Joschua Knüppe
It was also unique; it had widely spaced teeth and short hand bones, with a very long tail that was stiffened by thin bony projections. It has three species assigned to it, as well: D. modularis had a very elongated skull and widely spaced spikey teeth; D. linglongtaensis had a taller skull and more cone-like teeth; and D. robustodens had very robust teeth. This probably indicates that each species had a different ecological niche, as they were found in similar locations.
D. linglongtaensis by Joschua Knüppe
The biggest of these species was D. robustodens, which probably ate hard-shelled beetles while the other species ate more soft-bodied prey. It was as big as a robin, with longer wings. Sexual variation is also potentially known, or at least hypothesized about - broader pelvises have been found in some specimens, and larger crests in others. However, whether or not this is an accurate assessment is of course under debate. Eggs are also thought to be known, with a soft shell inside of a specimen that had two ovaries; the flaplings also may have been able to fly immediately after hatching. It’s eggs weighed about 6 grams and were small compared to the mother, much like those of modern non-avian reptiles.
D. modularis by Nobu Tamura, CC BY 3.0
However, the specimen that had these eggs may not actually be Darwinopterus, but rather a different species, Kunpengopterus. In addition, other studies of baby pterosaurs show that they probably did have some sort of inital flightless stage, indicating that Pterosaur ontogeny is far from being completely understood. Darwinopterus was found in the Tiaojishan Formation of China, living about 160.89 to 160.25 million years ago, in the Oxfordian age of the Middle-Late Jurassic.
Sources:
http://www.pteros.com/pterosaurs/darwinopterus.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinopterus
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