Haopterus

Name: Haopterus (Hao's wing).
Phonetic: How-op-teh-russ.
Named By: Wang & L� - 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Ornithocheiridae.
Species: H. gracilis (type).
Type: Piscivore.
Size: 125 centimetre wingspan.
Known locations: China, Liaoning Province - Yixian Formation.
Time period: Barremian to Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Single almost complete skeleton of a sub adult.

       The teeth of Haopterus are quite robust. As well as extending for the first two thirds of the jaws they also point towards the back of the mouth. These teeth are well adapted for catching and holding onto fish, which seem to be the preferred diet of pterosaurs that belong to the Ornithocheiridae.

Further reading
- Discovery of a pterodactylid pterosaur from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China. - Chinese Science Bulletin 46:1112-1117. - X. Wang & J. L� - 2001.

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