''Alanqa'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of
pterodactyloid
Pterodactyloidea (derived from the Greek words ''πτερόν'' (''pterón'', for usual ''ptéryx'') "wing", and ''δάκτυλος'' (''dáktylos'') "finger" meaning "winged finger", "wing-finger" or "finger-wing") is one of the two traditional ...
pterosaur
Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the Order (biology), order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cre ...
from the
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...
period (
Cenomanian stage) of what is now the
Kem Kem Beds of southeastern
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...
. The name ''Alanqa'' comes from the
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
word العنقاء ''al-
‘Anqā’'', for a mythical bird of Arabian culture.
[
]
Discovery
Aided by local villagers, a team of paleontologists had been excavating at several locations in the Kem Kem Beds during April, and November to December 2008, uncovering remains of several different pterosaurs. The material was fragmentary, and the type locality for ''Alanqa'' is Aferdou N'Chaft, near the village of Begaa and to the north-east of Taouz.[
]
Description
''Alanqa'' is known only from five fragments of the front upper and lower jaws, and possibly a neck vertebra, representing the single type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...
''Alanqa saharica''. Two of these fragments were first described, but not named, by Wellnhofer and Buffetaut in 1999, and referred to a pteranodontid
The Pteranodontidae are a family of large pterosaurs of the Cretaceous Period of North America and Africa. The family was named in 1876 by Othniel Charles Marsh. Pteranodontids had a distinctive, elongated crest jutting from the rear of the h ...
. Three additional jaw specimens, including a better preserved upper jaw, were described and named by Ibrahim and colleagues in 2010.[ The jaws were straight and pointed, like those of the azhdarchids '']Quetzalcoatlus
''Quetzalcoatlus'' is a genus of pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous period of North America (Maastrichtian stage); its members were among the largest known flying animals of all time. ''Quetzalcoatlus'' is a member of the Azhdarchidae, ...
'' and '' Zhejiangopterus''. Based on comparison to related species, the ''Alanqa saharica'' the individuals known from jaw specimens probably had wingspans of about 4 meters (13 ft). However, according to Ibrahim and colleagues, the vertebra (which probably belonged to the same species) appeared to come from a larger individual, measuring about 6 meters (20 ft) in wingspan.[ In 2022, Gregory S. Paul agreed with Ibrahim et al. (2010) regarding the wingspan, and estimated the body mass of ''Alanqa'' at .
A rostrum fragment was described in 2015 and referred to cf. ''Alanqa'' based on provenance. This fragment has two bony protuberances where the jaw occludes, coinciding with an eminence on one of the mandibles originally referred to ''Alanqa''. These imply an unusual functional specialization in this pterosaur; possible functions include visual display, anchoring of soft tissue, and crushing hard-shelled food.] However, this specimen probably belongs to '' Xericeps'', based on shared features with this taxon.
Classification
In its initial description, ''Alanqa'' was referred to the Azhdarchidae, based on the similarity of its jaws to those of ''Quetzalcoatlus'' and ''Zhejiangopterus''.[ This result was reproduced by a subsequent analysis. Another analysis, this time by Nicholas Longrich and colleagues in 2018, recovered ''Alanqa'' as a thalassodromid, sister taxon to '' Aerotitan'' (a pterosaur also assigned as an azhdarchid). However, this concept is not well-supported.] The cladogram of their analysis is shown below:
A 2022 study by Rodrigo Pêgas and colleagues showed dissimilarities between ''Aerotitan'' and ''Alanqa'', as well as other thalassodromines. The former was recovered as an azhdarchid, while ''Alanqa'' was recovered as a basal azhdarchoid related to '' Keresdrakon'', both forming the new clade Alanqidae.
Paleoecology
''Alanqa'' was recovered from the Kem Kem Group of the late Cenomanian period, then a freshwater delta system. It is believed to have been in the middle of the ecosystem's food web, preying on both small animals like crustaceans and mollusks, amphibians like ''Kababisha'' and ''Oumtkoutia'', small to medium-sized reptiles like ''Simoliophis libycus'' and ''Jeddaherdan aleadonta'', and even small or juvenile dinosaurs, much like other azhdarchids. On the other hand, ''Alanqa'' would be a prey item for the large predators of the ecosystem, such as theropod dinosaurs, (''Spinosaurus
''Spinosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what now is North Africa during the Cenomanian to upper Turonian stages of the Late Cretaceous period, about 99 to 93.5 million years ago. The genus was known first ...
'', ''Carcharodontosaurus
''Carcharodontosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of large carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed during the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous in Northern Africa. The genus ''Carcharodontosaurus'' is named after the shark genus '' Car ...
'', and '' Sauroniops''), and reptiles like '' Aegisuchus'', and an unidentified Madtsoiid
Madtsoiidae is an extinct family of mostly Gondwanan snakes with a fossil record extending from early Cenomanian ( Upper Cretaceous) to late Pleistocene strata located in South America, Africa, India, Australia and Southern Europe. Madtsoiidae ...
snake.
See also
* Timeline of pterosaur research
This timeline of pterosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and Biological taxonomy, taxonomic revisions of pterosaurs, the famed flying reptiles of the Mesozoic Era (ge ...
* List of pterosaurs
This list of pterosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Pterosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered inva ...
* 2010 in paleontology
Plants
Angiosperms
Molluscs
Newly named bivalves
Arthropods
Fishes
Amphibians
Newly named amphibians
Basal reptiles
Newly named basal reptiles
Ichthyopterygians
Newly named ichthyopterygians
Lepidosauromorphs
Newly name ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1937097
Late Cretaceous pterosaurs of Africa
Azhdarchoids
Fossil taxa described in 2010
Cenomanian genera