Archovember 2025 Day 14
Pterosaur Jeholopterus ninchengensis, of Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, Asia!
Jeholopterus ninchengensis was a small pterosaur, part of the Anurognathidae family, known for being small, batlike, nocturnal insectivores. However, Jeholopterus is the largest known anurognathid, with a long wingspan compared to its cousins. Due to its size and teeth, it is hypothesized that Jeholopterus might have also eaten fish, along with insects, similar to Fish-eating Bats (Myotis vivesi). One Jeholopterus fossil, from Middle Jurassic China, is an exquisitely preserved slab, showing the specimen surrounded by a “halo” of pycnofibers. This heavy layer of fluff has leant a lot to the study of integument in pterosaurs in recent years. Another possible Jeholopterus fossil was discovered to date from Early Cretaceous North Korea, showing that the genus may have been highly successful, existing for around 19 million years.
In the Tiaojishan Formation of Middle-Late Jurassic China, Jeholopterus ninchengensis lived in a temperate to subtropical, warm, humid forest of bennettitales, ginkgoales, conifers, ferns, and cycads. Many other pterosaurs shared this environment, including the smaller, long-tailed anurognathid Cascocauda, wukongopterids like Archaeoistiodactylus, Wukongopterus, and Darwinopterus, rhamphorhynchids like Fenghuangopterus, Jianchangnathus, and Jianchangopterus, ctenochasmatids like Liaodactylus, and other pterosaurs like Douzhanopterus and Pterorhynchus. Dinosaurs lived here as well, though they did not seem to be as dominant, and included ornithischians like Pulaosaurus, and theropods like Anchiornis, Aurornis, Caihong, Serikornis, Xiaotingia, Eosinopteryx, Epidexipteryx, Pedopenna, Scansoriopteryx, and Yi. Small cynodonts lived here too, including the arboreal Agilodocodon and Microdocodon, the fossorial Docofossor, the ground-dwelling Megaconus and Rugosodon, and the gliding Maiopatagium, Volaticotherium, Vilevolodon, and Xianshou.
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