Chaoyangopteridae

Chaoyangopterids Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 125–120 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Possible Late Cretaceous range
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Clade:	†Neoazhdarchia
Family:	†Chaoyangopteridae Lü et al., 2008
Type species
†Chaoyangopterus zhangi Wang & Zhou, 2003
Genera
†Chaoyangopterus †Eoazhdarcho †Jidapterus †Lacusovagus †Shenzhoupterus ?†Microtuban

The Chaoyangopteridae are a family of pterosaurs within the Azhdarchoidea.

The clade Chaoyangopteridae was first defined in 2008 by Lü Junchang and David Unwin as: "Chaoyangopterus, Shenzhoupterus, their most recent common ancestor and all taxa more closely related to this clade than to Tapejara, Tupuxuara or Quetzalcoatlus".^[1] Based on neck and limb proportions, it has been suggested they occupied a similar ecological niche to that of azhdarchid pterosaurs,^[2] though it is possible they were more specialised as several genera occur in Liaoning, while azhdarchids usually occur by one genus in a specific location. The Chaoyangopteridae are mostly known from Asia, though the possible member Lacusovagus occurs in South America^[3] and there are possible fossil remains from Africa. Microtuban may extend the clade's existence into the early Late Cretaceous.^[4]

References

1. Junchang Lü, David M. Unwin, Li Xu en Xingliao Zhang, 2008, "A new azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China and its implications for pterosaur phylogeny and evolution", Naturwissenschaften, 95(9): 891-897
2. http://pterosaur.net/species.php
3. Witton, Mark P. (2008). "A new azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Crato Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian?) of Brazil". Palaeontology. 51 (6): 1289–1300. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00811.x.
4. Wilton, Mark P. (2013). Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691150613.