A new ctenochasmatid Pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province

Based on a nearly complete lower jaw from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province, anew ctenochasmatid pterosaur: Liaoxipterus brachyognathus gen. et sp. nov. is erected. Liaoxipterus brachyognathus is different from any known pterosaurs with skulls preserved from western Liaoning Province and its peripheral areas in that the anterior part of the mandibular symphysis is expanded, being widest between the fourth alveolus of each side. Liaoxipterus brachyognathus is assigned to Ctenochasmatidae based on the following characters: the rounded anterior end of the lower jaw is spatulated and dorsoventrally flattened and marked heterodonty in the dentition is absent. It differs from other ctenochasmatid pterosaurs in having relatively small number of teeth. Liaoxipterus is distinguished from some ornithocheirids, which have expanded anterior parts of the mandibular symphyses, such as Anhanguera piscator, Coloborhynchus robustus in which the teeth of the new pterosaur are not as variable.