Beipiaopterus fossil map
Where fossils of Beipiaopterus have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 130 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 130 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Pterosaurs |
|---|---|
| Lived | 125.77–119.57 million years ago (Barremian to Aptian) |
| Periods | Cretaceous |
| Named by | Lü 2003 |
| Fossil records | 1 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | China |
| Rock formations | Yixian |
About Beipiaopterus
Beipiaopterus is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Aptian stage) of what is now the Yixian Formation of the China.
The genus was named in 2003 by Lü Junchang. The generic name is derived from Beipiao City in Liaoning Province and a Latinized Greek pteron, "wing". The specific epithet honors paleontologist Professor Chen Peiji.
The type and only species is based on holotype BPM 0002, a crushed partial skeleton of a subadult individual on a slab, missing the skull. It includes four cervical, fourteen dorsal, three sacral and nine caudal vertebrae, a complete left wing and two hind limbs. Remains of the soft parts have been preserved, including partial wing membranes, a membrane attached to the tibia, a "mane" on the neck and webbing of the feet. It had a wingspan of 1 meter (3.3 ft), and the animal itself had a length of about 50 centimeters (1.6 ft), however, this is only if the skull had the same length as the remainder of the body: 103 millimeters (4.1 in) for the neck, ten centimetres for the rump and 37 millimeters (1.5 in) for the tail. In the wing finger the fourth, normally most extreme, phalanx was absent; according to Lü this was not an artifact of preservation but the normal condition of the animal, one also known from Nyctosaurus.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Beipiaopterus (revision 1368791856), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q18915220.
