A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.

The Kem Kem beds in South Eastern Morocco contain a rich early Upper (or possibly late Lower) Cretaceous vertebrate assemblage. Fragmentary remains, predominantly teeth and jaw tips, represent several kinds of pterosaur although only one species, the ornithocheirid Coloborhynchus moroccensis, has be...

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Autores principales:	Nizar Ibrahim, David M Unwin, David M Martill, Lahssen Baidder, Samir Zouhri
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2010
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/02c8dad63b7a48519e84eb5f3e3af841
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:02c8dad63b7a48519e84eb5f3e3af841
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:02c8dad63b7a48519e84eb5f3e3af8412021-12-02T20:21:21ZA new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0010875https://doaj.org/article/02c8dad63b7a48519e84eb5f3e3af8412010-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/20520782/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203The Kem Kem beds in South Eastern Morocco contain a rich early Upper (or possibly late Lower) Cretaceous vertebrate assemblage. Fragmentary remains, predominantly teeth and jaw tips, represent several kinds of pterosaur although only one species, the ornithocheirid Coloborhynchus moroccensis, has been named. Here, we describe a new azhdarchid pterosaur, Alanqa saharica nov. gen. nov. sp., based on an almost complete well preserved mandibular symphysis from Aferdou N'Chaft. We assign additional fragmentary jaw remains, some of which have been tentatively identified as azhdarchid and pteranodontid, to this new taxon which is distinguished from other azhdarchids by a remarkably straight, elongate, lance-shaped mandibular symphysis that bears a pronounced dorsal eminence near the posterior end of its dorsal (occlusal) surface. Most remains, including the holotype, represent individuals of approximately three to four meters in wingspan, but a fragment of a large cervical vertebra, that probably also belongs to A. saharica, suggests that wingspans of six meters were achieved in this species. The Kem Kem beds have yielded the most diverse pterosaur assemblage yet reported from Africa and provide the first clear evidence for the presence of azhdarchids in Gondwana at the start of the Late Cretaceous. This, the relatively large size achieved by Alanqa, and the additional evidence of variable jaw morphology in azhdarchids provided by this taxon, indicates a longer and more complex history for this clade than previously suspected.Nizar IbrahimDavid M UnwinDavid M MartillLahssen BaidderSamir ZouhriPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 5, Iss 5, p e10875 (2010)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Nizar Ibrahim David M Unwin David M Martill Lahssen Baidder Samir Zouhri A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.
description	The Kem Kem beds in South Eastern Morocco contain a rich early Upper (or possibly late Lower) Cretaceous vertebrate assemblage. Fragmentary remains, predominantly teeth and jaw tips, represent several kinds of pterosaur although only one species, the ornithocheirid Coloborhynchus moroccensis, has been named. Here, we describe a new azhdarchid pterosaur, Alanqa saharica nov. gen. nov. sp., based on an almost complete well preserved mandibular symphysis from Aferdou N'Chaft. We assign additional fragmentary jaw remains, some of which have been tentatively identified as azhdarchid and pteranodontid, to this new taxon which is distinguished from other azhdarchids by a remarkably straight, elongate, lance-shaped mandibular symphysis that bears a pronounced dorsal eminence near the posterior end of its dorsal (occlusal) surface. Most remains, including the holotype, represent individuals of approximately three to four meters in wingspan, but a fragment of a large cervical vertebra, that probably also belongs to A. saharica, suggests that wingspans of six meters were achieved in this species. The Kem Kem beds have yielded the most diverse pterosaur assemblage yet reported from Africa and provide the first clear evidence for the presence of azhdarchids in Gondwana at the start of the Late Cretaceous. This, the relatively large size achieved by Alanqa, and the additional evidence of variable jaw morphology in azhdarchids provided by this taxon, indicates a longer and more complex history for this clade than previously suspected.
format	article
author	Nizar Ibrahim David M Unwin David M Martill Lahssen Baidder Samir Zouhri
author_facet	Nizar Ibrahim David M Unwin David M Martill Lahssen Baidder Samir Zouhri
author_sort	Nizar Ibrahim
title	A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.
title_short	A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.
title_full	A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.
title_fullStr	A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.
title_full_unstemmed	A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.
title_sort	new pterosaur (pterodactyloidea: azhdarchidae) from the upper cretaceous of morocco.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2010
url	https://doaj.org/article/02c8dad63b7a48519e84eb5f3e3af841
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A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.

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