query: taxon_rank cathayopterus
supports: In zoological nomenclature, a type species ("species typica") is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen(s). A similar concept is used for suprageneric groups called a type genus. Reptiles are tetrapod (four-limbed vertebrate) animals in the class Reptilia, comprising today's turtles, crocodilians, snakes, amphisbaenians, lizards, tuatara, and their extinct relatives. The study of these traditional reptile orders, historically combined with that of modern amphibians, is called herpetology. In biology, a species (abbreviated sp., with the plural form species abbreviated spp.) is the basic unit of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which two individuals can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. While this definition is often adequate, looked at more closely it is often problematic. For example, in a species complex, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear or disappear altogether. Other ways of defining species include similarity of DNA, morphology, or ecological niche. The presence of locally adaptive traits may further subdivide species into infraspecific taxa such as subspecies. Hatzegopteryx ("Haeg basin wing") is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur found in the end-Maastrichtian deposits of Transylvania, Romania. It is known from only the type species, Hatzegopteryx thambema, named by Buffetaut "et al." in 2002 based on parts of the skull and humerus. Additional specimens, including a neck vertebra, were later referred to the genus, representing a range of sizes. The largest of these remains indicate it was among the biggest pterosaurs, with an estimated wingspan of .  Liaoning is a province of China, located in the northeast of the country. The modern province was established in 1907 as Fengtian or Fengtien province and the name was changed to Liaoning in 1929. It was also known as Mukden province at the time, for the Manchu pronunciation of Shengjing, the former name of the provincial capital Shenyang. Under the Japanese-puppet Manchukuo regime, the province reverted to its 1907 name but the name Liaoning was restored in 1945 and again in 1954. Manchukuo was a puppet state in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia, which was governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The area, collectively known as Manchuria by westerners and Japanese, was designated by China's erstwhile Qing Dynasty as the "homeland" of the ruling family's ethnic group, the Manchus, but the Manchus themselves never used "Manchuria" () as a place name to refer to the area. In 1931, the region was seized by Japan following the Mukden Incident and a pro-Japanese government was installed one year later with Puyi, the last Qing emperor, as the nominal regent and emperor. Manchukuo's government was abolished in 1945 after the defeat of Imperial Japan at the end of World War II. The territories formally claimed by the puppet state were first seized in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945, and then formally transferred to Chinese administration in the following year. The Triassic is a geologic period and system which spans 50.9 million years from the end of the Permian Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period Mya. The Triassic is the first period of the Mesozoic Era. Both the start and end of the period are marked by major extinction events. The Triassic was named in 1834 by Friedrich von Alberti, after the three distinct rock layers ("tri" meaning "three") that are found throughout Germany and northwestern Europered beds, capped by marine limestone, followed by a series of terrestrial mud- and sandstonescalled the "Trias". Cathayopterus is a ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous - age Yixian Formation of Liaoning , China . It is a member of the group of pterosaurian filter - feeders . The type species is C. grabaui , described in 2006 by Wang and Zhou . The Yixian Formation is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans 11 million years during the early Cretaceous period. It is known for its exquisitely preserved fossils, and is mainly composed of basalts interspersed with siliciclastic sediments. Pterosaurs (meaning "winged lizard") are flying reptiles of the extinct clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger. Early species had long, fully toothed jaws and long tails, while later forms had a highly reduced tail, and some lacked teeth. Many sported furry coats made up of hair-like filaments known as pycnofibers, which covered their bodies and parts of their wings. Pterosaurs spanned a wide range of adult sizes, from the very small anurognathids to the largest known flying creatures of all time, including "Quetzalcoatlus" and "Hatzegopteryx". A clade (from , "klados", "branch") is a group of organisms that consists of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants, and represents a single "branch" on the "tree of life". A genus ( genera) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms in biology. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. Quetzalcoatlus northropi is an azhdarchid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America (Maastrichtian stage) and one of the largest known flying animals of all time. It is a member of the family Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks. Its name comes from the Mesoamerican feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl. Vertebrates comprise all species of animals within the subphylum Vertebrata (chordates with backbones). Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with currently about 64,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fish and the jawed vertebrates, which include the cartilaginous fish (sharks and rays) and the bony fish.  Basalt (, , , or ) is a common extrusive igneous (volcanic) rock formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava exposed at or very near the surface of a planet or moon. Flood basalt describes the formation in a series of lava basalt flows. In biological classification, especially zoology, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name.
candidates: branch class family form genus group order series species
answer: genus