Alanqa: a toothless pterosaur from Morocco

Alanqa saharica was a toothless azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Cenomanian Kem Kem Group of south-eastern Morocco. Its best-known fossils are three-dimensionally preserved front portions of the jaws, not a complete skull or skeleton. They reveal a long beak and distinctive jaw anatomy, while the full head, wingspan and diet remain unresolved. The animal belongs in the pterosaur catalogue alongside other Kem Kem forms known from different and often incomplete parts of the skeleton.

Quick facts

A pterosaur named from the Sahara

Nizar Ibrahim, David Unwin, David Martill and colleagues named Alanqa saharica in 2010. The name draws on an Arabic image of a mythical bird, while the species name refers to the Sahara. The holotype, FSAC-KK 26, is a nearly complete mandibular symphysis, the fused front portion of the lower jaw. Other fragments have been attributed to the genus, but they do not form one complete animal.

The fossils came from river deposits of the Kem Kem Group in south-eastern Morocco. Many bones in this regional record are separated from their original anatomical connections, which makes it important to distinguish the diagnostic material from pieces assigned by similarity. Several toothless pterosaurs lived in the wider Kem Kem ecosystem, including Apatorhamphus. Resembling jaws do not automatically belong to the same genus.

One advantage of the Alanqa material is that the known jaw fragments are preserved in three dimensions rather than being strongly flattened. Thin-walled pterosaur bones can be distorted during burial, so an undeformed cross-section is valuable. Even with this preservation, however, the holotype covers only the front of the lower jaw. It cannot supply the missing skull, neck, limbs or wing.

The beak and the unusual jaw projections

The known upper and lower jaw fragments indicate an elongated, straight, toothless beak. The cross-section of the fused lower jaw differs from corresponding bones in other pterosaurs reported from Kem Kem. These anatomical details helped distinguish the genus. They also constrain only a small part of the head: the palate, jaw joint, braincase and any cranial crest are not known from the holotype.

A separate specimen referred to as cf. Alanqa preserves paired bony projections on the chewing surface. The abbreviation “cf.” signals a comparison-based identification rather than a certain assignment. Researchers have discussed whether the processes could have stabilised the jaws or helped handle food. Neither function is proven. The fossil records the shape of the bone; it does not preserve the forces applied during feeding or a meal that would reveal how the projections were used.

A later review also emphasised that not every similar jaw piece can be confidently assigned to Alanqa. A referred fragment should not be silently combined with the holotype when reconstructing a single skull. Its identity and anatomical position need to remain explicit, especially when a feature is known from only one attributed specimen.

How certain is its classification?

The original description placed Alanqa in Azhdarchidae. Some later analyses have proposed a separate family, Alanqidae, for it and several related forms. Other authors judge the available evidence too limited for that family-level conclusion. The safer summary is that Alanqa is an unusual toothless member of Azhdarchoidea, while its exact branch within that group remains debated.

Family placement matters because artists and readers can assume that all azhdarchoids shared the same head, body and ecology. The relationships of Azhdarchoidea instead describe hypotheses about common ancestry based on preserved characters. They do not guarantee that an incomplete Moroccan jaw had the proportions of a better-known relative. A full skeleton would supply many more independent tests of the proposed relationships.

Size and possible feeding

No wing bones are known from the holotype, so Alanqa has no directly measured wingspan. Size estimates scale the jaw against other pterosaurs, and the answer changes with the chosen comparison and assumed proportions. A number from such a calculation is a model-based guide, not a measurement of the animal's wings.

The toothless beak also does not dictate a single diet. It could have been used to pick up small animals on the ground or at the water's edge, but the available bones contain no prey and no stomach contents. The possible jaw processes on a specimen referred as cf. Alanqa do not settle the question either. A proposed mechanical role is not the same as a preserved food item.

The Kem Kem landscape

The Kem Kem Group records rivers and floodplains along the northern margin of Africa during the Cenomanian. Fish, crocodylomorphs, dinosaurs and several kinds of pterosaurs are part of this regional fossil record. These animals accumulated over a broad landscape and interval. A list of species from the formation is useful environmental context, but it is not proof that every named animal lived together or interacted at one site.

The river deposits help explain how pterosaur bones entered the fossil record, yet the place where a carcass was buried does not prove the animal's preferred feeding habitat. Alanqa may have used open ground, river margins or more than one setting. Its exact movements and prey remain unknown.

What a scientific reconstruction can show

A reconstruction can reasonably portray an azhdarchoid with a long, toothless beak, using related pterosaurs to restore missing anatomy. It should not imply that a crest, full skull outline or exact wingspan has been found. The strongest visual evidence is the preserved jaw; nearly everything beyond it depends on comparisons with other taxa.

Colour, soft tissues, flight behaviour and the precise way food was collected are not recorded. A scene beside a Cretaceous river is compatible with the regional deposits, but it is an artistic setting rather than a fossilised moment. The reliable account is narrower and more useful: a distinctive three-dimensionally preserved jaw established a Moroccan pterosaur, while important questions about its family and life remain open.