Bennettazhia oregonensis
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Bennettazhia Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 100 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Clade: | †Tapejaromorpha |
| Genus: |
†Bennettazhia Nesov, 1991 |
| Type species | |
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†Pteranodon oregonensis Gilmore, 1928 |
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| Species | |
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†Bennettazhia oregonensis (Gilmore, 1928) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Pteranodon oregonensis Gilmore, 1928 |
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†Bennettazhia oregonensis (Gilmore, 1928)
Pteranodon oregonensis Gilmore, 1928
Bennettazhia is a genus of pterosaur (flying reptile).
In 1928 Charles Gilmore named a new species of Pteranodon: P. oregonensis. A humerus (holotype MPUC V.126713), two fused dorsal vertebrae and the broken-off end of some joint bone had been unearthed from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) beds of the Hudspeth Formation in Wheeler County, in the state of Oregon, USA, to which the specific epithet refers. Gilmore noted similarities to Nyctosaurus though the specimens were larger.
In 1989 S. Christopher Bennett concluded that the remains might be those of a member of the Azhdarchidae instead of a pteranodontid. Russian paleontologist Lev Nesov therefore in 1991 named a new azhdarchid genus: Bennettazhia. The genus name honours Bennett and combines his name with Persian azhdarha, "dragon", a reference to Azhdarcho, the type genus of the Azhdarchidae. Bennett himself in 1994 changed his opinion and stated that it belonged to the Dsungaripteridae. Wellnhofer (1991), Peters (1997), Kellner (2003) and Unwin (2003) left it as belonging to the Pterodactyloidea incertae sedis.
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