Pterosaur cervical vertebra? Cenomanian Aoufous Fm

[Juan A. Poblador]

Hello everyone!

Today I'm fighting with this special piece !. I have been doing a lot of comparisons with other similar remains, but unfortunately there is very little published.

It comes from the Cenomanian stage, of the Cretaceous region of KemKem (South of Morocco). Concretely of the red sandstones of the Aoufous Formation. Of the basal levels, really difficult to differentiate from the Ifezouane Formation (with much more sandy nature than the clays of the Aoufous Formation). 
I forgot the scale at pictures! Sorry! It measures long: 32mm = 1.25 Inch

 

It looks a lot like pterosaur cervical vertebrae. It has some very special characteristics! I would like anyone who wishes to contribute with their opinion. Help is always welcome!

 

[LordTrilobite]

I can't find an exact match but it does seem pretty similar to some cervical Pterosaur vertebrae. What I find interesting is the lack of a vertebral process. Some Pterosaurs have this condition. While in others a vertebral process is very pronounced.

[Juan A. Poblador]

True, it has a very poorly developed vertebral process. Although it is true that you can see that it lacks a small sector of said (fractured) area. Even so, it should not be very large.

I need to look for literature that refers to the post-cranial skeleton (especially cervical vertebrae) in Pterosaurs of the following families:

         -Ornithocheiridae
         -Azhdarchidae

I will begin by trying to compare with some similar remnants of these two families, widely represented in the North African Cretaceous.

Wait a long way ...!

[LordTrilobite]

Indeed, there are two Pterosaurs from those families described in the literature from the Kem Kem compound assemblage. Those are Siroccopteryx, which might be synomymous with Coloborynchus, and the Azhdarchid Alanqa.

 

But keep in mind that other types of pterosaurs have also been reported from this area. Though not confirmed, it appears that might also be Tapejarids, Dsungaripterids and Pteranodontids.

[Juan A. Poblador]

Yes, I'm going to start with those two families. Although there is not too much ....

 

I started with this ( https://openi.nlm.nih.gov/detailedresult.php?img=PMC2877115_pone.0010875.g005&req=4 ),

 

it is one of the few remains of cervical vertebrae of the Azhdarchidae family of this zone. Although not very complete, it seems that its posterior end is similar.