Sinopterus dongi

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Time: Early Cretaceous (~120 million years ago)

Region: Liaoning Province, China

Formation: Jiufotang Formation, Jehol Biota

Coloration Data

In Wu et al. (2026), pterosaur specimen CUGB-P2201 of Sinopterus dongi was investigated. The researchers reported a layered internal arrangement of melanosomes forming a photonic nanostructure within the animal's pycnofibres. Optical simulations demonstrated that this nanostructure produces iridescent structural coloration, shifting from green (at a 0° angle of incidence) to magenta/purple (at 40°). In addition, three distinct bands exhibiting elevated concentrations of trace elements (Cu, Ni, S) and melanosomes were detected on the skin near the cranial crest. Within the scope of this study, coloration was analyzed only from isolated monofilaments and a skin patch on the crest; a complete, full-body color reconstruction of Sinopterus was not established.

Method: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and optical modeling.

Publications

• Zelin Wu, Liliana D’Alba, Chang-Fu Zhou, Julia A. Clarke, Jinhua Li, Matthew D. Shawkey, Quanguo Li (2026)
  A study of the coloration of Sinopterus dongi (preprint).

Documents and files

• Wu_et_al_2026.pdf (PDF)
  Preprint of an article on Sinopterus dongi from bioRxiv.org.

Reconstructions

Fossils

Size comparison