Alanqa
Alanqa | |
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Lower jaw (top left, matched with the rostrum of Apatorhamphus) compared to the skull of Zhejiangopterus (top right) and the lower jaw of Quetzalcoatlus (bottom) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | †Pterosauria |
Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
Family: | † Alanqidae
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Genus: | †Alanqa Ibrahim et al., 2010 |
Species: | †A. saharica
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Binomial name | |
†Alanqa saharica Ibrahim et al., 2010
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Alanqa is a
Discovery
Aided by local villagers, a team of paleontologists had been excavating at several locations in the
Description
Alanqa is known only from five fragments of the front upper and lower jaws, and possibly a neck vertebra, representing the single
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.[4] However, this specimen probably belongs to Xericeps, based on shared features with this taxon.[5]
Classification
In its initial description, Alanqa was referred to the Azhdarchidae, based on the similarity of its jaws to those of Quetzalcoatlus and Zhejiangopterus. The cladogram of their analysis is shown below:
Dsungaripteromorpha
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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
Tapejaroidea |
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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,[4] amphibians like Kababisha and Oumtkoutia, small to medium-sized reptiles like Simoliophis libycus, 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, Carcharodontosaurus, and Sauroniops), crocodyliforms like Aegisuchus, and possibly a currently-unidentified madtsoiid snake.
See also
- Timeline of pterosaur research
- List of pterosaurs
- 2010 in paleontology