A new anurognathid pterosaur, Vesperopterylus lamadongensis gen. et sp. nov., is erected based on a complete skeleton with a skull preserved. It is characterized by two short distinct ridges present on the ventral surface of the cervical vertebrae; coracoids slightly longer than scapula; humerus, wing phalanx 3 and tibia nearly the same in length; grooves clearly present on the posterior surface of the wing phalanges 1–3; and the first toe reversed. It is the first anurognathid pterosaur from China with a definitively short tail, and the first pterosaur with a reversed first toe. The reversed first toe of Vesperopterylus indicates that it had arboreal habitats. The discovery of Vesperopterylus lamadongensis from the Jiufotang Formation strongly expands the geological age range for anurognathid pterosaurs.

Supplementary material: The character list and data matrix for phylogenetic analysis are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3873394