Pterosaur species from Morocco?

[-Andy-]

Hi all, I recently acquired what was claimed to be a 'Coloborhynchus sp.'.

It measures 2.09 inches long, and is larger than the typical pterosaur tooth from Kem Kem, Morocco. It's also thinner than my other Kem Kem pterosaur tooth.

Quoting from LordTrilobite:

As far as I know there are two Pterosaurs that are described. Siroccopteryx moroccensis and Alanqa saharica.

Siroccopteryx is and Ornithocheirid and it's teeth are often seen on the market.

Alanqa is an Azhdarchid known only from some fragmentary remains.

Paper: http://journals.plos...al.pone.0010875

Though some have suggested that there are also Tapejarids and Pteranodontids. But those haven't been described.

As far as I've seen, the three most common species of Pterosaur in Morocco that dealer sell are: Siroccopteryx, Anhanguera and Coloborhynchus.

I lack personal knowledge on this matter, so I thought to have your input. What are the properly identified species of pterosaur from Morocco, and do I have a Coloborhynchus?

[Troodon]

I'm far from an expert on pterosaurs so I rely heavily on recent publications. In looking at Mark Witton latest book "Pterosaurs" he mentions only two described species out of the Kem Kem: Siroccopteryx moroccensis and Alanqa saharica. A tapejarid find has been recorded but has not been described and is very incomplete so it may never occur. Coloborhynchus occurrence is only attributed to the early cretaceous from the UK.

I'm sure like everything else in the Kem Kem there is a lot more discoveries in front of us and need to take a wait an see approach and not rely on what suppliers sell but what is fact. I've seen pretty big Siroccopteryx teeth and yours may just be a tooth of one. Otherwise it should be labeled Ornithocheirid indet.

Good book I recommend it

:

Pterosaur by Mark Witton 2013, Princeton University Press

[LordTrilobite]

^ This.

What Troodon said.

[-Andy-]

Thanks guys. Will try to gather more info on pterosaurs I can.

[Troodon]

I would also like to better understand pterosaur especially from the Kem Kem but have yet to find a creditable source other than reference books.

[LordTrilobite]

Pterosaurs are definitely an interesting subject.

[-Andy-]

Here's an article linked from Fossilera that mentions Coloborhynchus > https://www.academia.edu/346224/Vertebrate_assemblages_from_the_early_Late_Cretaceous_of_southeastern_Morocco_An_overview

The part about Pterosaurs is on page 10/23.

A short write-up on Wikipedia also highlights the controversial classification: "The descriptors of Siroccopteryx placed this genus in the family Anhangueridae, sensu Kellner. David Unwin, however, indicated in 2001 that it was a species of Coloborhynchus, then he called it as C. moroccensis and being a member of the Ornithocheiridae.^[4][5] This has been controversial. In the same year, Michael Festnacht suggested it was more similar to Anhanguera due to the wide end of the snout. In 2009, Kellner considered that Siroccopteryx, Coloborhynchus clavirostris and Uktenadactylus probably formed together aclade within Anhangueridae."

[Troodon]

FYI Wittons book which is recent 2013 puts Siroccopteryx and Coloborhynchus in the same family Ornithocheiuridae so who knows. Ive seen that paper before and it says that a Siro fragment might be Coloborhynchus but nothing more than that. I still see lots of confusion on the Kem Kem pterosaurs and just like theropods we need more discoveries to clarify the playing field.