Home > Prehistoric Flying Reptiles > Alanqa
Alanqa
Announced to the world in 2010, Alanqa (its last, or species, name is the self-explanatory "saharica") was a giant northern African pterosaur, and possibly the earliest of the plus-sized "azhdarchid" pterosaurs that terrorized the small dinosaurs, fish and mammals of the late Cretaceous period (the most famous azhdarchid was the truly enormous Quetzalcoatlus). As is the case with other azhdarchids, it's possible that Alanqa saharica wasn't capable of flight, but stalked the swamps of the once-lush Sahara like a predatory, theropod dinosaur. Beyond its size, though, the most notable thing about Alanqa is where its remains were found--the fossil evidence for African pterosaurs is extremely scarce!
Share Your Comments