Phosphatodraco is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of azhdarchid

Azhdarchidae

Azhdarchidae is a family of pterosaurs known primarily from the late Cretaceous Period, though an isolated vertebrae apparently from an azhdarchid is known from the early Cretaceous as well...

 pterodactyloid

Pterodactyloidea

Pterodactyloidea forms one of the two suborders of pterosaurs , and contains the most derived members of this group of flying reptiles...

 pterosaur

Pterosaur

Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...

 from a late Maastrichtian

Maastrichtian

The Maastrichtian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the latest age or upper stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series, the Cretaceous period or system, and of the Mesozoic era or erathem. It spanned from 70.6 ± 0.6 Ma to 65.5 ± 0.3 Ma...

-age Upper Cretaceous portion of the Oulad (or Qualad) Abdoun Phosphatic Basin, Grand Doui, near Khouribga

Khouribga

Khouribga is a city in Khouribga Province in the Chaouia-Ouardigha region of Morocco with a population of approximately 172,000. Khouribga owes its growth to the phosphate deposits nearby.-Geography:...

, central Morocco.

Phosphatodraco is based on holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 OCP DEK/GE 111, found in 2000, which is composed of five associated, though disarticulated and compressed, damaged cervical

Neck

The neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...

 vertebrae and a bone of unknown origin. The cervical vertebrae are thought to be a series from the fifth (the longest with a length of thirty centimeters) to the ninth. The individual to which the neck belonged would have had a wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 of about five 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–Tertiary extinction event that finished off the group, and is the first azhdarchid found in northern Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

. P. mauritanicus is the type

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 and only known species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

. The specific name refers to Mauretania

Mauretania

Mauretania is a part of the historical Ancient Libyan land in North Africa. It corresponds to present day Morocco and a part of western Algeria...

.

External links

• Phosphatodraco in The Pterosauria