Phosphatodraco (meaning "phosphatedragon", in reference to the phosphates of Morocco, the country where it was found) is a genus of azhdarchidpterosaur from a late Maastrichtian-age Upper Cretaceous portion of the Oulad (or Qualad) Abdoun Phosphatic Basin, , near Khouribga, central Morocco. The type and only known species is Phosphatodraco mauritanicus; the specific name refers to Mauretania.[1]
Phosphatodraco is based on holotype OCP DEK/GE 111, found in 2000, which is composed of five associated, though disarticulated and compressed, damaged cervicalvertebrae and a bone of unknown origin. The cervical vertebrae are thought to be a series from the fifth (the longest with a length of 30 centimeters (12 in)) to the ninth. The individual to which the neck belonged would have had a wingspan of about 5 meters (16.4 feet). It is unusual among azhdarchids for having elongate vertebrae at the base of the neck (also with neural spines), interpreted as modified dorsal vertebrae; the neck is also one of the most complete known for azhdarchids. It was one of the last pterosaurs before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event that finished off the group, and is the first azhdarchid found in northern Africa.[1]
Classification[]
A comparison of Quetzalcoatlus cervical vertebrae on the left with the Phosphatodraco holotype on the right
The cladogram below shows a phylogenetic analysis recovered by paleontologist Nicholas Longrich and colleagues in 2018. They found Phosphatodraco as the sister taxon of Aralazhdarcho, both within the family Azhdarchidae.[2]
^ abPereda-Suberbiola, Xabier; Bardet, N.; Jouve, S.; Iarochène, M.; Bouya, B.; Amaghzaz, M. (2003). "A new azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco". In Buffetaut, E.; Mazin, J.-M. (eds.). Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs. Geological Society of London, Special Publications, 217. London: Geological Society of London. pp. 80–90. ISBN1-86239-143-2.
