What is "huaxiapterus"

Huaxiapterus (meaning " Hua Xia [China] wing") is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. It is the second genus of tapejarid from this formation, after Sinopterus. Three species are known, though they may not actually form a natural group with each other.

The type species of "Huaxiapterus" is H. jii, is based on GMN-03-11-001, a nearly complete skeleton and skull. While it was initially separated from the closely related Sinopterus by several characters including its smaller size and larger crest, later studies showed that it was in fact more closely related to Sinopterus dongi than to either of the other two species of Huaxiapterus. Some researchers have considered H. jii to be a species of Sinopterus for this reason, though a more thorough analysis has suggested it is slightly more primitive than Sinopterus.

The second species, "H." corollatus, is based on ZMNH M8131, another nearly complete skeleton from the same formation. The third species "H." benxiensis, based on specimen BXGM V0011, also comes from Liaoning. Because H. jii is the type species of its genus, and the other two species are not closely related to it, they will be renamed in the future.