Kunpengopterus

K. antipollicatus, named by Zhou et al. in 2021.

*Kunpengopterus*, called the "Monkeydactyl" by press, is an extinct genus of wukongopterid pterosaur that lived in China from the Middle-Late Jurassic.

## History

The genus contains two species, the type species *K. sinensis* and *K. antipollicatus* . *Kunpengopterus antipollicatus* lived in a forest ecosystem 160 million years ago, and was published in the journal Current Biology. It was likely an arboreal animal, having an opposed thumb; rare in non-mammals. It lived in the Tiaojishan Formation of northeastern China.

*K. sinensis* is known from IVPP V16047, a near-complete skeleton with a complete skull and mandible from the Tiaojishan Formation/Daohugou Beds, Linglongta, Jianchang County, western Liaoning. It is debated how old these layers actually are. Several soft tissue remains recovered, including a possibly regurgitated fish. Wang Xiaolin, Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner, Jiang Shunxing, Cheng Xin, Meng Xi and Taissa Rodrigues (2010) named it, combining Kun (large whale/fish), who transforms into Peng (a massive bright bird used to explain the aurora borealis) in Chinese mythology with the Greek pteron, meaning "wing". The specie name refers to how it lived in China. In 2017 IVVP V 23674, a skeleton and skull, was described and referred to the species.

*Kunpengopterus antipollicatus*, nicknamed the "Monkeydactyl" by press due to it likely being arboreal, was named in 2021. "Antipollicatus" means "opposite thumbed" in ancient Greek, fully meaning "Kun-Peng wing with an opposite thumb" . The type species, K. sinensis, refers to how the animal originated in China. The holotype is BPMC 0042 and ZMNH M8802/IVPP V 18043 was assigned the paratype. The former, consisting of an incomplete skeleton with 2 eggs was previously regarded as a possible *K. n. sp.*.

## Description

*Kunpengopterus* has an elongate head 106.9 millimeters long. Additionally, the cervical vertebrae are also elongate. The naris, confluent with the antiorbital fenestra, is partly-separated by a processus nasalis, which is broad and anteriorly-directed. This process itself has a small, vertical and tear-shaped opening. The crest is low and bony, sitting just behind the eyes, was elongated by cartilage (shown by extensive preservation) and yellow discolouration shows it may have been enlarged to the back via a skin flap. On the lower jaws, however, no evidence for a keel and no crests line the snout. The rear of the skull is rounded. The tail is stiff. The fifth toe is long and curves strongly. *K. antipolllicatus* bears an opposable pollux/thumb, which is a rare trait in non-mammals and conveys a possible arboreal paleoecology.

## Paleobiology

It soared across the skies, had opposable thumbs and lived in China during middle to the Late Jurassic. *Kunpengopterus* has a long stiff tail. The fifth toe is also long and strongly curved. *K. antipollicatus* has an easily identifiable opposable pollux or thumb, which is highly rare amongst non-mammal species of vertebrates.

## Classification

Since it bears a mosaic of basal and derived pterodactyloid traits, it was assigned to Wukongopteridae. Zhou et al. (2021) conclude:

## References

1. ↑ https://peerj.com/articles/4102/
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunpengopterus
3. ↑ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monkeydactyl-scientists-discover-dinosaur-reptile-oldest-opposable-thumbs/
4. ↑ https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00369-9?\_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982221003699%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
5. ↑ https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2021/04/new-jurassic-flying-reptile.aspx
6. ↑ https://scitechdaily.com/monkeydactyl-strange-new-jurassic-flying-reptile-reveals-the-oldest-opposable-thumbs/