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A new azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco

2003; Geological Society of London; Volume: 217; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1144/gsl.sp.2003.217.01.08

2041-4927

Xabier Pereda Suberbiola, Nathalie Bardet, Stéphane Jouve, Mohamed Iarochène, Baâdi Bouya, Mbarek Amaghzaz,

Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils

Abstract A large azhdarchid pterosaur is described from the Late Maastrichtian phosphatic deposits of the Oulad Abdoun Basin, near Khouribga (central Morocco). The material consists of five closely associated cervical vertebrae of a single individual. The mid-series neck vertebrae closely resemble those of azhdarchids Quetzalcoatlus and Azhdarcho in that they are elongate, with vestigial neural spines, prezygapophysial tubercles, a pair of ventral sulci near the prezygapophyses, and without pneumatic foramina on the lateral surfaces of the centra. The Moroccan pterosaur is referred to a new genus and species of Azhdarchidae: Phosphatodraco mauritanicus gen. et sp.nov. It is mainly characterized by a very long cervical vertebra eight, bearing a prominent neural spine located very posteriorly. Based on comparisons with azhdarchid vertebrae, the estimated wing span of Phosphatodraco is close to 5 m. This discovery provides the first occurrence of Late Cretaceous azhdarchids in northern Africa. Phosphatodraco is one of the few azhdarchids known from a relatively complete neck and one of the latest-known pterosaurs, approximately contemporaneous with Quetzalcoatlus .