Eopteranodon lii
By Franz Anthony, on @franzanth, retrieved from http://www.pteros.com/, a website dedicated to education about Pterosaurs.
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Name: Eopteranodon lii
Name Meaning: Dawn Toothless Wing
First Described: 2005
Described By: Lü & Zhang
Classification: Avemetatarsalia, Ornithodira, Pterosauromorpha, Pterosauria, Macronychoptera, Novialoidea, Breviquartossa, Pterodactylomorpha, Monofenestrata, Pterodactyliformes, Caelidracones, Pterodactyloidea, Eupterodactyloidea, Ornithocheiroidea, Azhdarchoidea, Neoazhdarchia, Neopterodactyloidea, Chaoyangopteridae
Eopteranodon is an Azhdarchoid perviously thought to be a Tapejarid - hence its position in the Pterosaur Ptuesday lineup - but now is thought to be a Chaoyangopterid, another group of crested, long-jawed pterosaurs, except more like the Azhdarchids in general behavior, with similarly long legs and necks, just smaller bodies. They were probably highly specialized as well, given that they all lived in similar locations while Azhdarchids lived in multiple different locations. Eopteranodon in particular lived in the Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China, living about 124.6 million years ago, in the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous. It is known from multiple specimens, and had a wingspan of about 1.1 meters. It is one of the earliest known toothless pterosaurs, hence the name, and not really closely related to Pteranodon at all. It was a strong flier, and it probably ate fish and small animals in its forested environment.
Sources:
http://www.pteros.com/pterosaurs/eopteranodon.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaoyangopteridae
http://www.pteros.com/families/chaoyangopteridae.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eopteranodon














