A nyctosaurid pterosaur known as Barbaridactylus is found in Morocco's Ouled Abdoun Basin, which extends back to the Maastrichtian period of the Late Cretaceous. Paleontologists Brian Andres, David M. Martill, and Nicholas R. Longrich published it in 2018. Alcione and Simurghia, two other pterosaurs from the same basin, were described in the same paper. B. grandis is the only species and the type.
Discovery and Naming
About 200 pterosaur specimens were discovered during a three-year excavation that yielded all known examples of Barbaridactylus. The right femur, left radius, ulna, humerus, scapulocoracoid, and incomplete mandible make up FSAC-OB 232, the type specimen. Barbaridactylus has been linked to four further specimens, FSAC-OB 8, 9, 10, and 11. All of them are humeri. The Barbaridactylus genus is named after the North African Barbary Coast and the Greek word dactylus (δάκτυλoς), which means "finger." Latin "great" is the meaning of its particular name, grandis.
Description
With a humerus length of 22.5 cm (8.9 in), a wingspan of almost 4 m (13 ft), and a body mass of 4 kg (8.8 lb), Barbaridactylus is one of the biggest nyctosaurids. Barbaridactylus shared the upward-curving jaws of other nyctosaurids. With its relatively short and wide shape, which is also shared by the related pteranodontids, the only known cervical is also quite typical for nyctosaurids. Given that the scapulocoracoid is united, the animal was most likely an adult. The two bones—the scapula and coracoid—form a 60-degree angle, giving it a boomerang-like appearance. The humerus has a long, narrow shaft. The placement of the nyctosaurids' characteristic hatchet-shaped deltopectoral crest, which is more like to that of Nyctosaurus than Alcione, is noticeably distal to the humeral head. These basal characteristics of this crest are short and wide, with a weakly developed extended tip. From an anterior perspective, the deltopectoral crest seems distorted—more so than in other nyctosaurids, but somewhat less so than in pteranodontids. This species is distinguished by the pneumatic fossa that is situated on the ventral surface of each humeral head. Unlike the strong ulna of Alcione, the ulna is somewhat gracile, and its ends are faintly extended. Roughly speaking, the diameter radius is two thirds that of the ulna. Despite lacking the considerable distal extension found in other nyctosaurids, Barbaridactylus' femur is comparatively normal for a nyctosaurid. Rather, it increases more gradually, like to Pteranodon's.
Classification
The phylogenetic study findings are displayed in the cladogram below, which was updated with new data by Longrich and colleagues in 2018 after it was initially reported by Andres and colleagues in 2014. According to their study, Barbaridactylus and N. lamegoi, two species of Nyctosaurus, are sister taxa in the Nyctosauridae family.
| Ornithocheiroidea |
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In a 2022 Quetzalcoatlus monograph, Brian Andres hypothesized that Barbaridactylus could be a different Nyctosaurus species.
| Pteranodontia |
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Paleoecology
In the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Northern Morocco, in upper Maastrichtian phosphates, Barbaridactylus was found. There is no formation that this geological formation is a part of. It is separated into couches, Couche III being the location of Barbaridactylus' discovery. This layer comes from the most recent Maastrichtian, which is around a million years older than the end-Cretaceous extinction event. The most varied marine environment discovered at the time is represented by Couche III. Along with turtles, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs, the area is known to have a wide diversity of marine life, including sharks and bony fish. There are a few known rare, incomplete dinosaur fossils, such as those of an abelisaur and a sauropod. Phosphatodraco mauritanicus, an azhdarchid, was the only representative of the other pterosaurs in the formation at first. More recent research, however, has identified at least five other pterosaur species from this region in addition to Barbaridactylus, including Alcione, Simurghia, and Tethydraco.
A reconstruction of Barbaridactylus by brandonallen1213.
Sources[1]