An unusual modification of the jaws in cf. Alanqa,a mid-Cretaceous azhdarchid pterosaur from the Kem Kem beds of Morocco |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3QL, United Kingdom;2. Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA;1. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Grant Institute, James Hutton Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FE, United Kingdom;2. Department of Biology, Carthage College, 2001 Alford Park Drive, Kenosha, WI 53140, USA;3. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Road, NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104, USA;4. Department of Geology, University of Maryland, 8000 Regents Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA;5. Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA;6. School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom;7. Burpee Museum of Natural History, 737 North Main Street, Rockford, IL 60115, USA;1. Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA;2. Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, 44272, USA;1. Geology Department, Mascara University, 29000, Algeria;2. Natural History Museum of Geneva, Geology and Paleontology Department, CP 6434, 1211 Geneva 6, Switzerland;1. Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK;2. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3QL, UK;3. Laboratoire Santé et Environnement, Faculté des Sciences Aïn Chock, Université Hassan II de Casablanca, Morocco |
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| Abstract: | A jaw bone attributed to the mid-Cretaceous azhdarchid pterosaur Alanqa saharica Ibrahim et al., 2010 is described. The new specimen from the Kem Kem beds of south eastern Morocco is unusual for the presence of expanded rostral bones that protrude above the occlusal surface of the jaws. The function of this unusual osteological modification is uncertain, but it is considered likely that it served a role in food processing, or perhaps jaw stability. |
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| Keywords: | Pterosauria Azhdarchidae Feeding Cretaceous Morocco |
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