Rhamphinion was a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of pterosaur

Pterosaur

Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...

 from the Sinemurian

Sinemurian

In the geologic timescale, the Sinemurian is an age or stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic epoch or series. It spans the time between 196.5 ± 2 Ma and 189.6 ± 1.5 Ma...

-mid Pliensbachian

Pliensbachian

The Pliensbachian is an age of the geologic timescale or stage in the stratigraphic column. It is part of the Early or Lower Jurassic epoch or series and spans the time between 189.6 ± 1.5 Ma and 183 ± 1.5 Ma . The Pliensbachian is preceded by the Sinemurian and followed by the Toarcian.The...

-age Lower Jurassic Kayenta Formation

Kayenta Formation

The Kayenta Formation is a geologic layer in the Glen Canyon Group that is spread across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. This rock formation is particularly prominent in southeastern Utah, where it is seen in the...

 of northeastern Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, USA.

The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

, Rhamphinion jenkinsi, was described and named in 1984 by Kevin Padian

Kevin Padian

Kevin Padian is a Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, Curator of Paleontology, University of California Museum of Paleontology and President of the National Center for Science Education. Padian's area of interest is in vertebrate evolution, especially the...

, based on holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 MNA V 4500

Museum of Northern Arizona

The Museum of Northern Arizona is a museum in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, that was established as a repository for Native American artifacts and natural history specimens from the Colorado Plateau.The museum was founded in 1928 by zoologist Dr. Harold S...

, a partial skull including the occipital

Occipital bone

The occipital bone, a saucer-shaped membrane bone situated at the back and lower part of the cranium, is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself...

 region, a partial left jugal

Jugal

The jugal is a skull bone found in most reptiles, amphibians, and birds. In mammals, the jugal is often called the malar or Zygomatic. It is connected to the quadratojugal and maxilla, as well as other bones, which may vary by species....

, a fragment of the lower jaw

Mandible

The mandible pronunciation or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place...

 including two preserved teeth and the impression of a third, and one other fragment that could not be identified. The specific name honors the discoverer of the fossil, Farish Alston Jenkins Jr. At the time, it was the oldest known pterosaur specimen from the Western Hemisphere

Western Hemisphere

The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...

. Padian did not assign it to any family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 or suborder within Pterosauria, but did note that the jugal was unlike that of pterodactyloids, and so may have belonged to a "rhamphorhynchoid", i.e. a basal pterosaur. A bone from the wing of another pterosaur from the same formation, found in 1981, may have also belonged to a "rhamphorhynchoid", with a wingspan of about 1.5 m (4.9 ft). Peter Wellnhofer

Peter Wellnhofer

Peter Wellnhofer is a German paleontologist at the "Bayerische Staatssammlung fur Paläontologie" in Munich. He is best known for his work on the various fossil specimens of Archaeopteryx or "Urvogel", the first known bird...

agreed that a "rhamphorhynchoid" identity was very likely, but David Unwin was more hesitant to classify its fragmentary remains in The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time, noting it only as a "possibly valid species of uncertain relationships."

External links

• Rhamphinion in The Pterosauria