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Simurghia
''Simurghia'' is a genus Nyctosauridae, nyctosaurid pterosaur from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco, a basin that dates to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. It was published in 2018 in paleontology, 2018 by paleontologists Nicholas R. Longrich, David M. Martill, and Brian Andres, along with two other nyctosaurids from the same basin: ''Alcione elainus, Alcione'' and ''Barbaridactylus''. The type species, type and only species is ''S. robusta''. Discovery and naming All known specimens of ''Simurghia'' were uncovered in a 3-year dig that unearthed about 200 pterosaur specimens. The type specimen, FSAC-OB 7, consists of a nearly complete humerus, lacking only the humeral head and the ulnar crest. ''Simurghia'' is named after a flying beast from Persian mythology known as the Simurgh. The species name, ''S. robusta'', is a Latin word that means "robust." Classification Below is a cladogram showing the results of a phylogenetic ana ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbaridactylus
''Barbaridactylus'' is a Nyctosauridae, nyctosaurid pterosaur from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco, a basin that dates back to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. It was published in 2018 in paleontology, 2018 by paleontologists Nicholas R. Longrich, David M. Martill, and Brian Andres. In the same publication, two other nyctosaurids from the same basin were described: ''Alcione elainus, Alcione'' and ''Simurghia''. The type species, type and only species is ''B. grandis''. Discovery and naming All known specimens of ''Barbaridactylus'' were uncovered in a 3-year dig that unearthed about 200 pterosaur specimens. Its type specimen is FSAC-OB 232, which consists of its right femur, left radius, ulna, humerus, and scapulocoracoid, and partial mandible. Four other specimens have been referred to ''Barbaridactylus'', FSAC-OB 8, 9, 10, and 11. They are all humeri. ''Barbaridactylus'' is named after the Barbary Coast of North Africa, and the Greek ''dactylo'', meaning "fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbaridactylus Grandis
''Barbaridactylus'' is a nyctosaurid pterosaur from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco, a basin that dates back to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. It was published in 2018 by paleontologists Nicholas R. Longrich, David M. Martill, and Brian Andres. In the same publication, two other nyctosaurids from the same basin were described: ''Alcione'' and ''Simurghia''. The type and only species is ''B. grandis''. Discovery and naming All known specimens of ''Barbaridactylus'' were uncovered in a 3-year dig that unearthed about 200 pterosaur specimens. Its type specimen is FSAC-OB 232, which consists of its right femur, left radius, ulna, humerus, and scapulocoracoid, and partial mandible. Four other specimens have been referred to ''Barbaridactylus'', FSAC-OB 8, 9, 10, and 11. They are all humeri. ''Barbaridactylus'' is named after the Barbary Coast of North Africa, and the Greek ''dactylo'', meaning "finger". The proper word for "finger" in Ancient Greek however, is ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcione Elainus
''Alcione'' is a genus of nyctosaurid pterosaur from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco, dating back to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period. Only one species, ''A. elainus'', is known. This pterosaur lived in a marine environment alongside several other pterosaurs, including the nyctosaurids ''Simurghia'' and ''Barbaridactylus''. Discovery and naming All known specimens of ''Alcione'' were uncovered in a 3-year dig that unearthed about 200 pterosaur specimens. The type specimen, FSAC-OB 2, consists of a partial skeleton that preserves various elements, including the femur, humerus, scapulocoracoid, and sternum. Referred specimens include FSAC-OB 217, which consists of metacarpal IV, FSAC-OB 156, a mandible, and the more complete FSAC-OB 4. This specimen consists of the humerus, radius, ulna, a partial metacarpal IV, phalanx IV-1, scapulocoracoids, and synsacra. ''Alcione'' is named after Alcyone, who was transformed into a seabird, from Greek mythology. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pteranodontia
Pteranodontia is an extinct group of ornithocheiroid pterodactyloid pterosaurs that lived during the Late Cretaceous period (Coniacian to Maastrichtian stages) of North America and Africa. They were some of the most advanced pterosaurs, and possessed highly specialized cranial crests that may have served as sexual attraction, with males having a much larger crest. Classification Pteranodontia was originally named by Marsh in 1876. In 2003, it was given a phylogenetic definition by David Unwin as the common ancestor of ''Pteranodon'' and ''Nyctosaurus'' plus all its descendants. Though Marsh had originally named this group based on the shared absence of teeth in those species, most analyses show that all of the traditional "ornithocheiroid" pterosaurs are also members of this clade. Below is a cladogram showing the phylogenetic placement of this group from Andres and Myers (2013). In 2018, Longrich, Martill, and Andres revisited the classification, and made a different phylogen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tethydraco Regalis
''Tethydraco'' is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period (Maastrichtian stage) of what is now the area of present Morocco, about 66 million years ago. ''Tethydraco'' was originally assigned to the family Pteranodontidae. Subsequently described material suggested that it was an azhdarchid, and possibly synonymous with ''Phosphatodraco''. The type and only species is ''T. regalis''. Discovery and naming Since 2015, a group of paleontologists has been acquiring pterosaur fossils from commercial Moroccan fossil traders, who obtain these from workers in the phosphate mines on the Khouribga plateau, which is located within the Ouled Abdoun Basin. The purpose of this project is to determine pterosaur diversity in the latest Cretaceous. From this stage, no Konservat-Lagerstätten are known, sites combining a large variety of species with exceptional preservation. It is in such sites that the vast majority of pterosaur fossils and taxa have bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nyctosauridae
Nyctosauridae (meaning "night lizards" or "bat lizards") is a family of specialized soaring pterosaurs of the late Cretaceous Period of North America, Africa, and possibly Europe. It was named in 1889 by Henry Alleyne Nicholson and Richard Lydekker.Nicholson, H.A. and Lydekker, R. (1889). ''A manual of palaeontology for the use of students: with a general introduction on the principles of palæontology, Volume II''. Blackwood, 1889. Nyctosaurids are characterized by their lack of all but the wing finger. In most pterosaurs, the hand has four fingers, with the fourth elongated to support the wing, and the remaining three are usually small, clawed, and used in walking or climbing. The lack of functional fingers in nyctosaurids may suggest that they spent almost all of their time in the air, rarely walking on the ground. Nyctosaurids also possessed a distinctively enlarged crest for muscle attachment on their upper arm bone, or humerus, the ''deltopectoral crest'', hatchet shaped li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ouled Abdoun Basin
The Oulad Abdoun Basin (also known as the Ouled Abdoun Basin or Khouribga Basin) is a phosphate sedimentary basin located in Morocco, near the city of Khouribga. It is the largest in Morocco, comprising 44% of Morocco's phosphate reserves, and at least 26.8 billion tons of phosphate. It is also known as an important site for vertebrate fossils, with deposits ranging from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) to the Eocene epoch (Ypresian), a period of about 25 million years. Geography The Oulad Abdoun is located west of the Atlas Mountains, near the city of Khouribga. The Oulad Abdoun phosphate deposits encompass some , an area of . The Oulad Abdoun is the largest and northernmost of Morocco's major phosphate basins, which from northeast to southwest, include the Ganntour, Meskala, and Oued Eddahab (Laayoune-Baa) basins. Paleobiota The Oulad Abdoun Basin stretches from late Cretaceous to the Eocene, and contains abundant marine vertebrate fossils, including sharks, bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alamodactylus Byrdi
''Alamodactylus'' is an extinct genus of nyctosaurid pteranodontoid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of Texas, southern United States. It contains a single species, ''Alamodactylus byrdi''. Discovery ''Alamodactylus'' is known solely from its holotype, SMU 76476, a partial left wing first described by Myers (2010).Myers, T.S., 2010, "Earliest occurrence of the Pteranodontidae (Archosauria: Pterosauria) in North America: New material from the Austin Group of Texas", ''Journal of Paleontology'' 84(6): 1071–1081 This specimen is crushed and consists of a left humerus, the distal end of the fourth wing metacarpal and the proximal end of the first wing phalanx of fourth digit. Other elements of the holotype first reported by Andres and Myers (2013) include a left proximal syncarpal, manual phalanx, and some fragments including four tapering processes that may represent skull bones, an articular surface that appears to be the mandible articulation of the right quadrate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nyctosaurus Gracilis
''Nyctosaurus'' (meaning "night lizard" or "bat lizard") is a genus of nyctosaurid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of what is now the Niobrara Formation of the mid-western United States, which, during the time ''Nyctosaurus'' was alive, was covered in an extensive shallow sea. Some remains belonging to a possible ''Nyctosaurus'' species called ''N.lamegoi'' have been found in Brazil, making ''Nyctosaurus'' more diverse. The genus ''Nyctosaurus'' has had numerous species referred to it, though how many of these may actually be valid requires further study. At least one species possessed an extraordinarily large antler-like cranial crest. ''Nyctosaurus'' was a mid-sized pterosaur that lived along the shores of the Niobrara Formation of the United States, which back then was within a large inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway. It has been suggested that it would have flown similar to modern-day soaring birds such as albatrosses, which consisted of flying very lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nyctosaurus Nanus
''Nyctosaurus'' (meaning "night lizard" or "bat lizard") is a genus of nyctosaurid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of what is now the Niobrara Formation of the mid-western United States, which, during the time ''Nyctosaurus'' was alive, was covered in an extensive shallow sea. Some remains belonging to a possible ''Nyctosaurus'' species called ''N.lamegoi'' have been found in Brazil, making ''Nyctosaurus'' more diverse. The genus ''Nyctosaurus'' has had numerous species referred to it, though how many of these may actually be valid requires further study. At least one species possessed an extraordinarily large antler-like cranial crest. ''Nyctosaurus'' was a mid-sized pterosaur that lived along the shores of the Niobrara Formation of the United States, which back then was within a large inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway. It has been suggested that it would have flown similar to modern-day soaring birds such as albatrosses, which consisted of flying very lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nyctosaurus Lamegoi
''Nyctosaurus'' (meaning "night lizard" or "bat lizard") is a genus of nyctosaurid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of what is now the Niobrara Formation of the mid-western United States, which, during the time ''Nyctosaurus'' was alive, was covered in an extensive shallow sea. Some remains belonging to a possible ''Nyctosaurus'' species called ''N.lamegoi'' have been found in Brazil, making ''Nyctosaurus'' more diverse. The genus ''Nyctosaurus'' has had numerous species referred to it, though how many of these may actually be valid requires further study. At least one species possessed an extraordinarily large antler-like cranial crest. ''Nyctosaurus'' was a mid-sized pterosaur that lived along the shores of the Niobrara Formation of the United States, which back then was within a large inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway. It has been suggested that it would have flown similar to modern-day soaring birds such as albatrosses, which consisted of flying very lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muzquizopteryx Coahuilensis
''Muzquizopteryx'' is a genus of nyctosaurid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period (early Coniacian stage) of what is now Coahuila, Mexico. Discovery and naming In the 1990s, José Martínez Vásquez, a worker at the chalk quarry of El Rosario, uncovered a skeleton of a pterosaur. This he handed to a quarry official, who had it bricked in on the face of an office wall as a decorative piece. After its unique scientific value had been recognized in 2002, the specimen was acquired by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Subsequently, it was studied by a combined team of the University of Karlsruhe and the Desert Museum and scientifically reported in 2004. In 2006, the type species ''Muzquizopteryx coahuilensis'' was named and described by Eberhard Frey, Marie-Céline Buchy, Wolfgang Stinnesbeck, Arturo González-González and Alfredo di Stefano. The generic name is derived from the Múzquiz district and a Greek πτέρυξ, ''pteryx'', "wing". T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
