A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.
A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0010875
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发表时间：
2010-05-26
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Zouhri S
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ibrahim N;Unwin DM;Martill DM;Baidder L;Zouhri S
摩洛哥东南部的Kem Kem层含有丰富的早白垩世（或晚白垩世）脊椎动物组合。虽然只有一种翼龙被命名，但主要是牙齿和颚尖的碎片仍然代表了几种翼龙，即Moroccensis。在这里，我们描述了一个新的阿兹达奇翼龙，阿兰卡撒哈拉新属，基于一个几乎完整的保存完好的下颌骨联合从阿费尔杜恩查夫特。我们分配额外的碎片颌骨遗骸，其中一些已被初步确定为azhdarchid和pteranodontid，这个新的分类群是从其他azhdarchids的一个非常直的，细长的，长矛形的下颌骨联合，承担一个明显的背部隆起附近的后端的背侧（咬合）表面。包括正模标本在内的大多数遗骸，其个体翼展约为3至4米，但有一块巨大的颈椎骨碎片，可能也属于A。saharica的研究表明，这个物种的翼展达到了六米。Kem Kem层产出了迄今为止非洲报告的最多样化的翼龙组合，并为冈瓦纳在晚白垩世开始时存在阿兹达尔奇类提供了第一个明确的证据。这一点，相对较大的尺寸所取得的Alanqa，并在azhdarchids由这个分类群提供的变量颚形态的额外证据，表明一个更长的时间和更复杂的历史，这个分支比以前怀疑。
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.
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影响因子：
2.8
作者：
Catuneanu, O.;Khalifa, M. A.;Wanas, H. A.
通讯作者：
Wanas, H. A.
DOI：
10.1016/s0031-0182(99)00167-4
发表时间：
2000-04-01
影响因子：
3
作者：
Benton, MJ;Bouaziz, S;Trueman, C
通讯作者：
Trueman, C
影响因子：
1.4
作者：
Abdala, F;Hancox, PJ;Neveling, J
通讯作者：
Neveling, J
影响因子：
0.6
作者：
Averianov, A. O.
通讯作者：
Averianov, A. O.
影响因子：
2.3
作者：
Buffetaut, E;Laurent, Y;Bilotte, M
通讯作者：
Bilotte, M