Siroccopteryx
| Siroccopteryx | |
|---|---|
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| Holotype snout fragment | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Family: | †Anhangueridae |
| Subfamily: | †Tropeognathinae |
| Genus: | †Siroccopteryx Mader & Kellner, 1999 |
| Type species | |
| †Siroccopteryx moroccensis Mader & Kellner, 1999
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| Synonyms | |
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Siroccopteryx is an extinct
Description
The genus was named and described in 1999 by Bryn Mader and Alexander Kellner. The name Siroccopteryx means "wing of the
This pterosaur is known only from the front part of the
The wingspan of this large pterosaur should be 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 ft). It is likely that this animal was a specialized glider, and ventured into the sea off the coast of Africa, to capture fishes and other prey that swim near the surface.
Phylogeny
The descriptors of Siroccopteryx placed this genus in the family Anhangueridae sensu Kellner. David Unwin suggested in 2001 that it was a species of Coloborhynchus, and thus a member of the Ornithocheiridae.[4][5] This has been controversial. In the same year, Michael Fastnacht suggested it was closer to Anhanguera. Kellner and Rodrigues (2009) considered Siroccopteryx a distinct genus, and suggested that it formed a clade with Coloborhynchus clavirostris and Uktenadactylus.[6]
In 2018, a topology recovered by Longrich et al. assigned Siroccopteryx to the family Ornithocheiridae as the sister taxon of Coloborhynchus.[7] In 2019 however, Jacobs et al. published an analysis that also recovers Siroccopteryx within the family Ornithocheiridae, but they concluded that it would have been more closely related to, and therefore the sister taxon of both Ornithocheirus and Tropeognathus, which contradicts the conclusion of Siroccopteryx being more closely related to Coloborhynchus.[8] In 2020, a study made by Borja Holgado and Rodrigo Pêgas again recovered Siroccopteryx as the sister taxon to Tropeognathus, however, they assigned both genera to the family Anhangueridae instead of the Ornithocheiridae.[9]
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Topology 1: Jacobs et al. (2019).[8]
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Topology 2: Holgado & Pêgas (2020).[9]
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See also
References
- ^ a b Mader, BJ; Kellner, Alexander W. A. (1999). "A new pterosaur from the Cretaceous of Morocco". Boletim do Museu Nacional (Rio de Janeiro), Geologia. Nova Série. 45: 1–11.
- PMID 20520782.
- .
- .
- ISBN 978-1-86239-143-7.
- ^ Rodrigues, Taissa; Alexander W. A. Kellner (2009). "Review of the pterosaur pterodactyloid Coloborhynchus". Zitteliana B. 28: 219–228.
- ^ S2CID 134439172.
- ^ .
