2003/01/01 by Xabier Pereda Suberbiola, Nathalie Bardet, Stéphane Jouve +3 · 99 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Cretaceous #Paleontology #Geology #Zoology #Biology
paper · doi:10.1144/gsl.sp.2003.217.01.08
published in Geological Society London Special Publications 217(1), 79-90 (Geological Society of London)
openalex publication_date 2003/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
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 .