TWO NEW PTERODACTYLOID PTEROSAURS FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS JIUFOTANG FORMATION OF WESTERN LIAONING,CHINA

In this paper we report two new pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the Jiufotang Formation inwestern Liaoning Province of northeast China. They are Chaoyangopterus zhangi gen. et sp. nov.(Nyctosauridae) and Liaoningopterus gui gen. et sp. nov.(Anhangueridae). The former not only represents the first such record in Asia but also the earliest record and most complete skeleton of the family. Some revisions of the family are made,such as having four wing digits and well developed manual digits Ⅰ～Ⅲ. Liaoningopterus is the largest pterosaur ever discovered in China;its teeth also represent the largest known from any pterosaurs. Discoveries of two more pterosaurs from the Jiufotang Formation further show that two pterosaur assemblages could be recognized in the Jehol Group,represented by the Yixian Formation and Jiufotang Formation,respectively. The pterosaur assemblage of the Jiufotang Formation shows a lot resemblance to that of the Early Cretaceous Santana Formation (Aptian/Albian) such as the Tapejaridae and Anhangueridae. The age of the Jiufotang Formation (Aptian) is slightly older than the Santana Formation.