A Brief Look at Wukongopterus

[David Peters <DAVIDPETERS@ATT.NET>]

Jaime H. wrote:

So, with all respect to parties here, I would like to insert a comment on this 
more robustly than I did before. It is true that there may be crushing or 
distortion involved that would discriminate Wukognopterus lii as an abberant 
Darwinopterus modularis, or at least a Wukongopterus lii as a new species of 
Darwinopterus, D. lii. However, some details preclude the argument that 
distortion alone is responsible for their dismimilarity.

etc.

>>> Excellent attention to detail, Jaime! Very specific. 

In my own look-see (and please correct me if I'm wrong) I found the following 
differences

1. Metatarsal III longer than Mt II in Wukongopterus, not in Darwinopterus
2. Longest digit(s) from heel: three and four in Wukongopteris, two in 
Darwinopterus
3. Pedal phalanx 4.4 not shorter than 4.1 n Wukongopterus, not in Darwinopterus.

I did not test for the characters noted by Jaime, but have no quarrel with his 
assessments.

As a result, these two pterosaurs nest together enough to be congeneric, but 
details keep them from being conspecific, IMHO, in agreement with Jaime. Which 
of the two is least like the outgroup depends on which outgroup these two 
belong to. Let's figure that one out.

David Peters