Abstract
The pterosaur assemblage of the mid-Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of Morocco is reviewed. This analysis examines their taxonomy, palaeoecology and palaeobiology with comments on taphonomy. New material permits the rediagnosis of the azhdarchoids Alanqa saharica and Afrotapejara zouhrii. Several specimens are reported that do not fit within the paradigms of previously named taxa. They represent three distinct jaw morphotypes, but are not assigned to new taxa here. The assemblage is highly diverse, including four tooth-bearing taxa assigned to Ornithocheiridae and five named taxa and three additional morphotypes assigned to Azhdarchoidea. The Kem Kem Group assemblage is the most diverse for any pterosaur-bearing fluvial deposit and one of the most diverse of any pterosaur assemblage. The assemblage is heavily biased in terms of preservation with an as yet unexplained high abundance of jaw fragments. We highlight the importance of fragmentary material in pterosaur studies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 519-568 |
| Number of pages | 50 |
| Journal | PalZ |
| Volume | 97 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 4 Feb 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Sept 2023 |
Bibliographical note
No funding was received for this research.Funding
A great many people have helped us in our researches on Kem Kem Group pterosaurs over nearly two decades. We are especially grateful to Drs. Dino Frey and Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan. For technical support we thank Richard Hing, Geoff Long, Bob Loveridge, William Keeble, Ben Morrison and Dr. Alex Kao, all sometime based at the University of Portsmouth. For assistance with field work we thank Simon Penn, Rab Smyth, Michael Oates, James McPhee, and many undergraduate and MRes students of DMM and NI. For assistance with artwork we thank Lucy Smith, Emily Pilavachi and Julian Kiely. For assistance and access to specimens in collections we thank Drs. Mike Day (NHMUK), Ronan Allain (MNHN), Oliver Rauhut (BSPG), Florias Mees and Jonathan Brecko (RMCA) and Bryn Mader for supplying images. We especially thank the many people in Morocco who have assisted us in the field, collected significant fossil remains, and offered us incredible hospitality, including Mustapha Meharich and Mohammed Ben Sekkou. We also thank our veteran team members Matteo Fabbri, Simone Maganuco and Cristiano Dal Sasso for helping us collect large numbers of vertebrate fossils over the last few years. Mr. Ian Eaves is warmly thanked for making specimens in his collection available for study. We thank Dr. Alexander Averianov, an anonymous reviewer and the editors of Paläontologische Zeitschrift , Dr. Michael Rasser and Dr Hans-Dieter Sues for their very helpful comments, which greatly improved the manuscript.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Mustapha Meharich and Mohammed Ben Sekkou | |
| NHMUK | |
| University of Portsmouth | |
| National Instruments Corporation | |
| Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Pavia |
Keywords
- Kem Kem Group
- Morocco
- Palaeoecology
- Pterosauria
- Taxonomy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Palaeontology