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51-454: Genus synonymy Sinopterus (meaning "Chinese wing") is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian -age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang , Liaoning , China. It was first described and named by Wang Xiaolin and Zhou Zhonghe . Historically, there were multiple species attributed to the genus although only one is considered to be valid. Sinopterus

102-407: A genus is determined by taxonomists . The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: Moreover, genera should be composed of phylogenetic units of

153-506: A hatchling Sinopterus . This identification was formally presented in 2021 study, which found that Nemicolopterus fit into a growth series as a young juvenile or hatchling Sinopterus hatchling. An analysis of pterosaur relationships by Andres and colleagues in 2014 found the specimen in a sister group relationship with " Sinopterus " gui . Based on study of hatchling Sinopterus skeletons as well as comparison with hatchlings of other pterosaur species, Naish and colleagues (2021) found that

204-643: A later homonym of a validly published name is a nomen illegitimum or nom. illeg. ; for a full list refer to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and the work cited above by Hawksworth, 2010. In place of the "valid taxon" in zoology, the nearest equivalent in botany is " correct name " or "current name" which can, again, differ or change with alternative taxonomic treatments or new information that results in previously accepted genera being combined or split. Prokaryote and virus codes of nomenclature also exist which serve as

255-621: A long time and redescribed as new by a range of subsequent workers, or if a range of genera previously considered separate taxa have subsequently been consolidated into one. For example, the World Register of Marine Species presently lists 8 genus-level synonyms for the sperm whale genus Physeter Linnaeus, 1758, and 13 for the bivalve genus Pecten O.F. Müller, 1776. Within the same kingdom, one generic name can apply to one genus only. However, many names have been assigned (usually unintentionally) to two or more different genera. For example,

306-430: A preliminary opinion, these scientists stated that there is likely only one valid species of Sinopterus , S. dongi , but that " Huaxiapterus " corollatus might be a valid second species based on unique wing and leg proportions. In 2023, Rodrigo V. Pêgas et al. reviewed the recent taxonomic histories of the tapejarids. In their article, they made S. gui and S. lingyuanensis synonymous with S. dongi . In addition,

357-409: A reference for designating currently accepted genus names as opposed to others which may be either reduced to synonymy, or, in the case of prokaryotes, relegated to a status of "names without standing in prokaryotic nomenclature". An available (zoological) or validly published (botanical) name that has been historically applied to a genus but is not regarded as the accepted (current/valid) name for

408-485: A single species due to growth, and that there were unlikely to be such a high diversity of extremely similar species in the same ecosystem when their differences are more likely due to variation within a few species. They suggested that a larger study would be needed to untangle the question of how many species of Sinopterus -like pterosaurs actually existed in the Jiufotang ecosystem, and how they are related to each other. In

459-427: A taxon; however, the names published in suppressed works are made unavailable via the relevant Opinion dealing with the work in question. In botany, similar concepts exist but with different labels. The botanical equivalent of zoology's "available name" is a validly published name . An invalidly published name is a nomen invalidum or nom. inval. ; a rejected name is a nomen rejiciendum or nom. rej. ;

510-455: A total of c. 520,000 published names (including synonyms) as at end 2019, increasing at some 2,500 published generic names per year. "Official" registers of taxon names at all ranks, including genera, exist for a few groups only such as viruses and prokaryotes, while for others there are compendia with no "official" standing such as Index Fungorum for fungi, Index Nominum Algarum and AlgaeBase for algae, Index Nominum Genericorum and

561-596: Is discouraged by both the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants , there are some five thousand such names in use in more than one kingdom. For instance, A list of generic homonyms (with their authorities), including both available (validly published) and selected unavailable names, has been compiled by the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG). The type genus forms

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612-432: Is known for its proportionally large skull, which has a birdlike pointed beak , a long bony crest that starts with a tall premaxilla and goes back along the middle of the skull to form a point overhanging the rear of the skull, and its lack of teeth. The type species , S. dongi , is based on IVPP V13363 , an articulated, nearly complete skeleton. The skull of this individual was 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) long, and

663-419: Is known from numerous specimens, some of which have been assigned to unique species and even different genera over the years. The type species, Sinopterus dongi , is known from one specimen described in 2003. A second specimen, BPV-077, was also described in 2003 by Li, Lü , and Zhang, who classified it in its own species, S. gui . It was said to differ from S. dongi mainly in its smaller size (only about half

714-402: Is known from several specimens at various stages of growth, which has allowed scientists to study the changes these animals went through during their life histories. At least one very small juvenile (possibly hatchling) specimen has been attributed to Sinopterus . This specimen was originally classified as a distinct genus in 2008, Nemicolopterus crypticus . The name Nemicolopterus comes from

765-460: Is somewhat arbitrary. Although all species within a genus are supposed to be "similar", there are no objective criteria for grouping species into genera. There is much debate among zoologists about whether enormous, species-rich genera should be maintained, as it is extremely difficult to come up with identification keys or even character sets that distinguish all species. Hence, many taxonomists argue in favor of breaking down large genera. For instance,

816-474: Is the type species , and the generic name is permanently associated with the type specimen of its type species. Should the specimen turn out to be assignable to another genus, the generic name linked to it becomes a junior synonym and the remaining taxa in the former genus need to be reassessed. In zoological usage, taxonomic names, including those of genera, are classified as "available" or "unavailable". Available names are those published in accordance with

867-453: Is the third valid genus of tapejarid from the Jehol Biota , after Sinopterus and Eopteranodon . It contains one species, Huaxiadraco corollatus , originally assigned to the defunct genus Huaxiapterus . Huaxiadraco is based on the holotype ZMNH M8131, a nearly complete skeleton. It was originally assigned to the genus Huaxiapterus by Lü Junchang and colleagues in 2006, under

918-621: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ; the earliest such name for any taxon (for example, a genus) should then be selected as the " valid " (i.e., current or accepted) name for the taxon in question. Consequently, there will be more available names than valid names at any point in time; which names are currently in use depending on the judgement of taxonomists in either combining taxa described under multiple names, or splitting taxa which may bring available names previously treated as synonyms back into use. "Unavailable" names in zoology comprise names that either were not published according to

969-799: The International Plant Names Index for plants in general, and ferns through angiosperms, respectively, and Nomenclator Zoologicus and the Index to Organism Names for zoological names. Totals for both "all names" and estimates for "accepted names" as held in the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG) are broken down further in the publication by Rees et al., 2020 cited above. The accepted names estimates are as follows, broken down by kingdom: The cited ranges of uncertainty arise because IRMNG lists "uncertain" names (not researched therein) in addition to known "accepted" names;

1020-609: The Sinopterus species-complex, Pêgas et al. modified their working dataset, previously used in the redescription of Aerotitan . Their cladogram is shown below: Thalassodromidae Caupedactylus ybaka Aymberedactylus cearensis Europejara olcadesorum Tupandactylus imperator Tupandactylus navigans Tapejara wellnhoferi Caiuajara dobruskii Huaxiadraco corollatus Eopteranodon lii Sinopterus dongi Wightia declivirostris Afrotapejara zouhrii Bakonydraco galaczi Sinopterus

1071-419: The nomenclature codes , which allow each species a single unique name that, for animals (including protists ), plants (also including algae and fungi ) and prokaryotes ( bacteria and archaea ), is Latin and binomial in form; this contrasts with common or vernacular names , which are non-standardized, can be non-unique, and typically also vary by country and language of usage. Except for viruses ,

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1122-404: The platypus belongs to the genus Ornithorhynchus although George Shaw named it Platypus in 1799 (these two names are thus synonyms ) . However, the name Platypus had already been given to a group of ambrosia beetles by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1793. A name that means two different things is a homonym . Since beetles and platypuses are both members of the kingdom Animalia,

1173-408: The wingspan was estimated to be 1.2 meters (3.9 feet). The authors suggested that it was an omnivore , and noted that it was the first record of a tapejarid outside of Brazil , and the earliest and most complete tapejarid. The maximum adult wingspan of this pterosaur would have been 1.9 metres (6.2 ft), and an individual of this size would have weighed 2.87 kg (6.3 lb). Sinopterus

1224-661: The Greek words "Nemos" meaning "forest", "ikolos" meaning "dweller", and the Latinised "pteron" meaning "wing". The specific name crypticus is derived from the Greek "kryptos", meaning "hidden". Thus " Nemicolopterus crypticus " means "Hidden flying forest dweller". The type specimen of N. crypticus , catalog number IVPP V-14377, is housed in the collection of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, China. The fossil

1275-442: The base for higher taxonomic ranks, such as the family name Canidae ("Canids") based on Canis . However, this does not typically ascend more than one or two levels: the order to which dogs and wolves belong is Carnivora ("Carnivores"). The numbers of either accepted, or all published genus names is not known precisely; Rees et al., 2020 estimate that approximately 310,000 accepted names (valid taxa) may exist, out of

1326-455: The binomial name Huaxiapterus corollatus . Lü et al. also named another species, Huaxiapterus benxiensis , a year later. However, analyses have since found that these species are only distantly related to Huaxiapterus jii , the type species of Huaxiapterus , and thus require a new genus name. A 2023 review of Chinese tapejarids by Pêgas et al. have confirmed these analyses, finding most of them (including Huaxipterus jii ) to belong to

1377-425: The clade Tapejaromorpha . Bennettazhia oregonensis Eopteranodon lii " Sinopterus " gui Nemicolopterus crypticus Huaxiapterus jii Sinopterus dongi "Huaxiapterus" benxiensis "Huaxiapterus" corollatus Tupandactylus navigans Tupandactylus imperator Bakonydraco galaczi Europejara olcadesorum Tapejara wellnhoferi Based on their reassessment of

1428-410: The coeval Sinopterus dongi , although corollatus was found to belong to a distinct genus. They thus created Huaxiadraco for corollatus , synonymized benxiensis with it, and referred specimens D2525 (previously considered Sinopterus ), BMPC 103, 104, and 105 to it. Based on their reassessment of the Sinopterus species-complex, Pêgas et al. modified their working dataset, previously used in

1479-446: The form "author, year" in zoology, and "standard abbreviated author name" in botany. Thus in the examples above, the genus Canis would be cited in full as " Canis Linnaeus, 1758" (zoological usage), while Hibiscus , also first established by Linnaeus but in 1753, is simply " Hibiscus L." (botanical usage). Each genus should have a designated type , although in practice there is a backlog of older names without one. In zoology, this

1530-675: The generic name (or its abbreviated form) still forms the leading portion of the scientific name, for example, Canis lupus lupus for the Eurasian wolf subspecies, or as a botanical example, Hibiscus arnottianus ssp. immaculatus . Also, as visible in the above examples, the Latinised portions of the scientific names of genera and their included species (and infraspecies, where applicable) are, by convention, written in italics . The scientific names of virus species are descriptive, not binomial in form, and may or may not incorporate an indication of their containing genus; for example,

1581-450: The genus Huaxiapterus was synonymized with Sinopterus as a result of H. jii and H. atavismus being reclassified as synonyms of S. dongi and " H. " corollatus being reclassified to the new genus Huaxiadraco from which Huaxiapterus benxiensis became synonymous with. The cladogram below follows the 2014 analysis by Brian Andres and colleagues, showing the placement of two Sinopterus species (" S. " gui and S. dongi ) within

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1632-628: The largest component, with 23,236 ± 5,379 accepted genus names, of which 20,845 ± 4,494 are angiosperms (superclass Angiospermae). By comparison, the 2018 annual edition of the Catalogue of Life (estimated >90% complete, for extant species in the main) contains currently 175,363 "accepted" genus names for 1,744,204 living and 59,284 extinct species, also including genus names only (no species) for some groups. The number of species in genera varies considerably among taxonomic groups. For instance, among (non-avian) reptiles , which have about 1180 genera,

1683-403: The lizard genus Anolis has been suggested to be broken down into 8 or so different genera which would bring its ~400 species to smaller, more manageable subsets. Huaxiadraco Huaxiadraco (meaning " Hua Xia [China] dragon") is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian -age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang , Liaoning , China. It

1734-403: The most (>300) have only 1 species, ~360 have between 2 and 4 species, 260 have 5–10 species, ~200 have 11–50 species, and only 27 genera have more than 50 species. However, some insect genera such as the bee genera Lasioglossum and Andrena have over 1000 species each. The largest flowering plant genus, Astragalus , contains over 3,000 species. Which species are assigned to a genus

1785-428: The name could not be used for both. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach published the replacement name Ornithorhynchus in 1800. However, a genus in one kingdom is allowed to bear a scientific name that is in use as a generic name (or the name of a taxon in another rank) in a kingdom that is governed by a different nomenclature code. Names with the same form but applying to different taxa are called "homonyms". Although this

1836-457: The new combination Sinopterus atavismus . A 2021 study by Darren Naish and colleagues of variation within pterosaur growth stages noted that numerous species had been classified as Sinopterus or " Huaxiapterus ", most based only on a single specimen, and most differentiated from each other by features like wing proportions, skull length, and crest shape and size. Naish et al. pointed out that all of these features are known to be variable within

1887-418: The other two species of " Huaxiapterus " require a new genus name. However, a more complete phylogenetic analysis suggested that Sinopterus may actually be an intermediate step in the grade between H. jii and the other two Huaxiapterus species, making Sinopterus paraphyletic if H. jii is included. In 2016, another species, S. lingyuanensis , was named. It purportedly differed from the other species in

1938-428: The proportions of its nasoantorbital fenestra , its rostral index, the relative sizes of its femur and tibia, and the relative sizes of the first and second wing digits. In the same paper describing this species, the species Huaxiapterus atavismus was also named. However, Xinjun Zhang and colleagues in 2019 considered Huaxiapterus an invalid genus and therefore reassigned H. atavismus to Sinopterus , which created

1989-526: The provisions of the ICZN Code, e.g., incorrect original or subsequent spellings, names published only in a thesis, and generic names published after 1930 with no type species indicated. According to "Glossary" section of the zoological Code, suppressed names (per published "Opinions" of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature) remain available but cannot be used as the valid name for

2040-466: The same kind as other (analogous) genera. The term "genus" comes from Latin genus , a noun form cognate with gignere ('to bear; to give birth to'). The Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus popularized its use in his 1753 Species Plantarum , but the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708) is considered "the founder of the modern concept of genera". The scientific name (or

2091-408: The scientific epithet) of a genus is also called the generic name ; in modern style guides and science, it is always capitalised. It plays a fundamental role in binomial nomenclature , the system of naming organisms , where it is combined with the scientific name of a species : see Botanical name and Specific name (zoology) . The rules for the scientific names of organisms are laid down in

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2142-439: The size of S. dongi ) and the presence of a notarium , though this was later disproved. Some later studies found S. gui to simply represent a younger specimen of S. dongi , though one large analysis in 2014 found it to be a more primitive tapejarid. A third specimen was referred to Sinopterus in 2007, again classified as a new species, this time given the name S. jii . This species was first named by Lü & Yuan in 2005 as

2193-497: The specific name particular to the wolf. A botanical example would be Hibiscus arnottianus , a particular species of the genus Hibiscus native to Hawaii. The specific name is written in lower-case and may be followed by subspecies names in zoology or a variety of infraspecific names in botany . When the generic name is already known from context, it may be shortened to its initial letter, for example, C. lupus in place of Canis lupus . Where species are further subdivided,

2244-434: The specimen, concluded that it was immature, citing the amount of bone fusion and the ossification of the toes, gastralia, and sternum as indicating that it was a sub-adult rather than a hatchling. However, Darren Naish argued on his popular weblog that, due to the hypothesis that pterosaurs were highly precocial , bone fusion and ossification could have occurred very early in life, and that Nemicolopterus might in fact be

2295-412: The standard format for a species name comprises the generic name, indicating the genus to which the species belongs, followed by the specific epithet, which (within that genus) is unique to the species. For example, the gray wolf 's scientific name is Canis lupus , with Canis ( Latin for 'dog') being the generic name shared by the wolf's close relatives and lupus (Latin for 'wolf') being

2346-403: The taxon is termed a synonym ; some authors also include unavailable names in lists of synonyms as well as available names, such as misspellings, names previously published without fulfilling all of the requirements of the relevant nomenclatural code, and rejected or suppressed names. A particular genus name may have zero to many synonyms, the latter case generally if the genus has been known for

2397-406: The type species of a new genus which they named Huaxiapterus . Two later studies in 2007 and 2011 both showed that H. jii was in fact more closely related to Sinopterus than to the two other species also assigned to Huaxiapterus , " H. " corollatus and " H. " benxiensis . Both groups of researchers concluded that Huaxiapterus jii should therefore be reclassified as Sinopterus jii , and that

2448-566: The values quoted are the mean of "accepted" names alone (all "uncertain" names treated as unaccepted) and "accepted + uncertain" names (all "uncertain" names treated as accepted), with the associated range of uncertainty indicating these two extremes. Within Animalia, the largest phylum is Arthropoda , with 151,697 ± 33,160 accepted genus names, of which 114,387 ± 27,654 are insects (class Insecta). Within Plantae, Tracheophyta (vascular plants) make up

2499-429: The virus species " Salmonid herpesvirus 1 ", " Salmonid herpesvirus 2 " and " Salmonid herpesvirus 3 " are all within the genus Salmonivirus ; however, the genus to which the species with the formal names " Everglades virus " and " Ross River virus " are assigned is Alphavirus . As with scientific names at other ranks, in all groups other than viruses, names of genera may be cited with their authorities, typically in

2550-677: The wing proportions and bone strength/flexibility of hatchlings were similar to adults, and concluded that Sinopterus was capable of powered flight very shortly after hatching. They found that while young juveniles would have been excellent gliders, they would not have been reliant on gliding alone as opposed to true flight. Juveniles also seem to have been more adapted to flight in closed environments, like dense forests, compared to adults. Juveniles therefore probably occupied different ecological niches than adults, transitioning between different niches as they grew. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Genus The composition of

2601-533: Was collected from the Jiufotang Formation , like all adult Sinopterus specimens. It was discovered in the Luzhhouou locality of Yaolugou Town, Jianchang County, Huludao City, western Liaoning Province in northeastern China . It has a wingspan of slightly under 25 centimeters (10 in), making it smaller than all but a few specimens of hatchling pterosaurs. Wang et al. (2008), who originally described

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