The Discovery of Darwinopterus and Its Significance

• 责任者：Lü Junchang （Institute of Geology ; Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences ; Beijing 100037 ; China）
• 刊名：Acta Geoscientica Sinica
• 出版年：2010
• 卷期：31(2)
• 关键词：翼龙目 ; Pterosauria ; 辽宁 ; Liaoning Province
• 页码：p.129-136
• 图表：7 illus., 48 refs.
• 分类号：1103
• issnNo：ISSN1006-3021
• isbnNo：CN11-3474/P

Darwinopterus, a medium-sized pterosaur, was found in the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of Linglengta, Jianchang County, western Liaoning Province. It is the only known transitional form from basal pterosaurs to pterodactyloids, and shares both primitive and derived characteristics. The discovery of Darwinopterus is highly significant, because it fills the gap between non-pterodactyloids and pterodactyloids and provides evidence of biological macroevolution mechanism (modular evolution theory), i. e. , the entire modules, or groups of body features, evolved together within a relatively short period of time.  The discovery of Darwinopterus may challenge the traditional and simple classification of pterosaurs into two groups.