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Azhdarchids
Azhdarchidae (from the Persian word , , a dragon-like creature in Persian mythology) is a family of pterosaurs known primarily from the Late Cretaceous Period, though an isolated vertebra apparently from an azhdarchid is known from the Early Cretaceous as well (late Berriasian age, about 140 million years ago). Azhdarchids included some of the largest known flying animals of all time, but smaller cat-size members have also been found. Originally considered a sub-family of Pteranodontidae, Nesov (1984) named the Azhdarchinae to include the pterosaurs ''Azhdarcho'', '' Quetzalcoatlus'', and ''Titanopteryx'' (now known as ''Arambourgiania''). They were among the last known surviving members of the pterosaurs, and were a rather successful group with a worldwide distribution. By the time of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, most pterosaur families except for the Azhdarchidae disappear from the fossil record, but recent studies indicate a wealth of pterosaurian fauna, including pte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phosphatodraco
''Phosphatodraco'' is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous of what is now Morocco. In 2000, a pterosaur specimen consisting of five cervical (neck) vertebrae was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Phosphatic Basin. The specimen was made the holotype of the new genus and species ''Phosphatodraco mauritanicus'' in 2003; the genus name means " dragon from the phosphates", and the specific name refers to the region of Mauretania. ''Phosphatodraco'' was the first Late Cretaceous pterosaur known from North Africa, and the second pterosaur genus described from Morocco. It is one of the only known azhdarchids preserving a relatively complete neck, and was one of the last known pterosaurs. Additional cervical vertebrae have since been assigned to the genus, and it has been suggested that fossils of the pterosaur '' Tethydraco'' represent wing elements of ''Phosphatodraco''. Due to the fragmentary nature of the holotype cervical vertebrae, there has been co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azhdarcho Lancicollis
''Azhdarcho'' is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of the Bissekty Formation (middle Turonian stage, about 92 million years ago) of Uzbekistan, as well as the Zhirkindek Formation of Kazakhstan. It is known from fragmentary remains including the distinctive, elongated neck vertebrae that characterizes members of the family Azhdarchidae, a family that includes many giant pterosaurs such as ''Quetzalcoatlus''. The name ''Azhdarcho'' comes from the Persian word '' azhdar'' (), a dragon-like creature in Persian mythology. The type species is ''Azhdarcho lancicollis''. The specific epithet ''lancicollis'' is derived from the Latin words ''lancea'' (meaning "lance" or "spear") and ''collum'' ("neck"). History The fossil remains of ''Azhdarcho'' were recovered in the Kyzyl Kum desert (from the Taykarshinskaya unit of the Bissekty Formation) by Lev A. Nesov during expeditions to Central Asia in 1974–1981. The type specimen, given the catalog number Ц ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azhdarcho
''Azhdarcho'' is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of the Bissekty Formation (middle Turonian stage, about 92 million years ago) of Uzbekistan, as well as the Zhirkindek Formation of Kazakhstan. It is known from fragmentary remains including the distinctive, elongated neck vertebrae that characterizes members of the family Azhdarchidae, a family that includes many giant pterosaurs such as ''Quetzalcoatlus''. The name ''Azhdarcho'' comes from the Persian word '' azhdar'' (), a dragon-like creature in Persian mythology. The type species is ''Azhdarcho lancicollis''. The specific epithet ''lancicollis'' is derived from the Latin words ''lancea'' (meaning "lance" or "spear") and ''collum'' ("neck"). History The fossil remains of ''Azhdarcho'' were recovered in the Kyzyl Kum desert (from the Taykarshinskaya unit of the Bissekty Formation) by Lev A. Nesov during expeditions to Central Asia in 1974–1981. The type specimen, given the catalog number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aerotitan
''Aerotitan'' is a genus of large azhdarchid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous period (Maastrichtian stage) of what is now the Allen Formation of the Neuquén Basin in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Discovery and naming The type species ''Aerotitan sudamericanus'' was named and described in 2012 by Fernando Novas, Martin Kundrat, Federico Agnolín, Martin Ezcurra, Per Erik Ahlberg, Marcelo Isasi, Alberto Arriagada and Pablo Chafrat. The generic name is derived from Greek ἀήρ, ''aer'', "air", and Titan, in reference to the fact the species represents a large flying reptile. The specific name refers to its provenance from South America. The holotype, MPCN-PV 0054, has been recovered near the Bajo de Arriagada site, in Patagonia, from a layer of the upper Allen Formation. It consists, according to the original description, of a partial rostrum with a preserved length of . This snout is elongated and transversely compressed and the jaws are toothless. The wingspan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hatzegopteryx
''Hatzegopteryx'' ("Hațeg basin wing") is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur found in the late Maastrichtian deposits of the Densuş Ciula Formation, an outcropping in Transylvania, Romania. It is known only from the type species, ''Hatzegopteryx thambema'', named by Buffetaut ''et al.'' in 2002 based on parts of the skull and humerus. Additional specimens, including a neck vertebra, were later placed in the genus, representing a range of sizes. The largest of these remains indicate it was among the biggest pterosaurs, with an estimated wingspan of . Unusually among giant azhdarchids, ''Hatzegopteryx'' had a very wide skull bearing large muscular attachments; bones with a spongy internal texture instead of hollow; and a short, robust, and heavily muscled neck measuring long, which was about half the length of other azhdarchids with comparable wingspans, and was capable of withstanding strong bending forces. ''Hatzegopteryx'' inhabited Hațeg Island, an island situated in the Cret ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurazhdarcho
''Eurazhdarcho'' is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period (Maastrichtian stage) of what is now the Transylvanian Basin of Romania. Its fossil remains dated back 69 million years ago. Discovery and naming In 2009, Mátyás Vremir at Lancrăm near Sebeş-Glod in Transylvania at the SbG-B site uncovered the remains of a pterosaur. He donated these to the ''Erdélyi Múzeum'', of the '' Societății Muzeului Ardelean'' (Transylvanian Museum Society). Subsequent excavations by Vremir discovered additional bones of the same individual animal and were added by him to the collection of the Babeș-Bolyai University. In 2013, Vremir, Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner, Darren Naish, and Gareth Dyke named and described the type species ''Eurazhdarcho langendorfensis''. The generic name combines the name of Europe with that of the related form ''Azhdarcho''. The specific name refers to Langendorf, the name of Lancrǎm in the language of the German ethnic minor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryodrakon
''Cryodrakon'' ("cold dragon") is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Canada. It contains a single species, ''Cryodrakon boreas'', recovered from the Dinosaur Park Formation. Discovery and history Since 1972, bones of large azhdarchids have been reported from Alberta, representing the first pterosaur finds from Canada. These were sometimes referred to a ''Quetzalcoatlus'' sp. Later research by Michael Habib indicated that they represented a taxon new to science. In 2019, the type species ''Cryodrakon boreas'' was named and described by David William Elliott Hone, Michael Habib and François Therrien. The generic name is derived from the Greek κρύος, ''kryos'', "icy cold", and δράκων, ''drakon'', "dragon". The specific name means "belonging to '' Boreas'', the north wind", or simply "northern". Habib had considered the name ''Cryodrakon viserion'', as a reference to the ice dragon in ''Game of Thrones''. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arambourgiania
''Arambourgiania'' is an extinct genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period (Maastrichtian stage) of Jordan, and possibly the United States.Harrell, T. Lynn Jr.; Gibson, Michael A.; Langston, Wann Jr. (2016). "A cervical vertebra of ''Arambourgiania philadelphiae'' (Pterosauria, Azhdarchidae) from the Late Campanian micaceous facies of the Coon Creek Formation in McNairy County, Tennessee, USA" ''Bull. Alabama Mus. Nat. Hist.'' 33:94–103 ''Arambourgiania'' was among the largest members of its family, the Azhdarchidae, and it is also one of the largest flying animals ever known. The incomplete left ulna of the "Sidi Chennane azhdarchid" from Morocco may have also belonged to ''Arambourgiania''. History of discovery In the early 1940s, a railway worker during repairs on the Amman-Damascus railroad near Russeifa found a two foot long fossil bone. In 1943 this was acquired by the director of a nearby phosphate mine, Amin Kawar, who brought it to the attention ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aralazhdarcho
''Aralazhdarcho'' is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Santonian to the early Campanian stages of the Late Cretaceous period of Bostobe Svita in Kazakhstan. The type and only known species is ''Aralazhdarcho bostobensis''. Etymology ''Aralazhdarcho'' was named in 2007 by Alexander Averianov. In 2004, the holotype had already been described. (''Paleontol. J.'' 38 (4), 426–436) The genus name, ''Aralazhdarcho'', is derived from the Aral Sea and the related genus ''Azhdarcho'', while the specific name, ''bostobensis'', refers to the Bostobe Formation. Description ''Aralazhdarcho'' is based on holotype ZIN PH, no. 9/43, consisting of the anterior end of a neck vertebra, probably the fifth or sixth. Several paratypes have also been referred: a jugal, a toothless lower jaw fragment, centra from vertebrae, the distal end of a scapula, the proximal end of a second phalanx of the left wing finger and the proximal end of a left femur, of which, however, the head has broken off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thanatosdrakon
''Thanatosdrakon'' () (meaning "dragon of death") is a genus of quetzalcoatline azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Upper Coniacian–Lower Santonian) Plottier Formation of the Neuquén Basin in western Argentina (Andes mountain range). The genus name is derived from the Greek words ''thanatos'' (=death) and ''drakon'' (=dragon), while the specific name is a Quechuan word meaning "flying serpent" and refers to the Incan deity Amaru. The type and only species is ''Thanatosdrakon amaru'', known from two specimens consisting of several well-preserved axial and appendicular bones including material previously undescribed in giant azhdarchids (e.g. complete notarium, dorsosacral vertebrae and caudal vertebra). ''Thanatosdrakon'' is one of the oldest known members of the Quetzalcoatlinae. ''T. amaru'' lived from about 90 to 86 million years ago. Description ''Thanatosdrakon'' is known from two well-preserved specimens first described in 2018. The holotype, UNCUYO-LD 307 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albadraco
''Albadraco'' is an azhdarchid pterosaur genus that during the Late Cretaceous lived in the area of modern Romania. The type species is ''Albadraco tharmisensis''. Discovery and naming At the site of Oarda de Jos, near Alba Iulia in Alba County, two jaw pieces were found of a large pterosaur. The discovery was reported and illustrated in a dissertation by Cătălin Jipa-Murzea in 2012.Jipa-Murzea, C., 2012, ''Upper Cretaceous continental vertebrate assemblages from Metaliferi sedimentary area: systematics, paleoecology and paleobiogeography'', PhD Thesis Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, 228 pp In 2019, the type species ''Albadraco tharmisensis'' was named and described by Alexandru Adrian Solomon, Vlad Aurel Codrea, Márton Venczel and Gerald Grellet-Tinner. The generic name combines a reference to Alba with the Latin ''draco'', "dragon". The specific name refers to a provenance near Tharmis, the ancient Dacian name of Alba Iulia. The holotype, PSMUBB V651a, b, wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mistralazhdarcho
''Mistralazhdarcho'' is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period (Campanian stage) of France. The type and only species is ''Mistralazhdarcho maggii''. Discovery In 1992, Xavier Valentin at Velaux–La Bastide Neuve, in the south of France, discovered a rich fossil site. Between 2009 and 2012, pterosaur remains were excavated. The pterosaur was reported in the scientific literature in 2015.Cincotta, A., J. Yans, P. Godefroit, G. Garcia, J. Dejax, M. Benammi, S. Amico, and X. Valentin. 2015. "Integrated paleoenvironmental reconstruction and taphonomy of a unique Upper Cretaceous vertebrate-bearing locality (Velaux, southeastern France)". ''PLoS ONE'' 10: e0134231 In 2018, the type species ''Mistralazhdarcho maggii'' was named and described by Romain Vullo, Géraldine Garcia, Pascal Godefroit, Aude Cincotta and Xavier Valentin. The generic name connects the mistral, a northern wind typical for the area of discovery, with ''Azhdarcho'', the type genus of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
