Xericeps
| Xericeps Temporal range: Cretaceous,
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| Genus: | Xericeps Martill et al., 2017
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Xericeps is a genus of pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous Kem Kem Beds (which date to the late Albian or Cenomanian age) of southeastern Morocco.
The name Xericeps comes from the Ancient Greek - Xero - meaning dry, referencing the Sahara Desert, in which the pterosaur was first found, and the Latin suffix ~ ceps from Capere, meaning "to catch" - alluding to the creature's forceps-like beak. [1] It is the first pterosaur genus described to begin with the letter - X - the only starting letter previously unclaimed by the names of other pterosaur genera.
Xericeps is known only by its holotype specimen, first described in 2017.
History and discovery
The holotype specimen - FSAC-KK-10700 was discovered by local mine workers at Aferdou N'Chaft, a small mesa near the oasis village of Hassi el Begaa in the El Rachidia Province in south eastern Morocco on the Algerian border, and consists only of the pterosaur's fragmented jaws. The specimen was purchased directly at the mine site by British palaeontologist David M. Martill in January 2017, and thus it is possible to confidently establish its precise locality and stratigraphic horizon. (It is believed that Xericeps lived in the mid-Cretaceous period around the Albian-Cenomanian ages (93.9-113.0 Ma).)
Description
Xericeps is a medium-sized edentulous (toothless) pterosaur, likely closely related to Alanqa. The term 'medium-sized', in the context of pterosaurs, is generally used to describe pterosaurs with a wingspan of 3-8 metres, and it is likely that Xericeps was nearer the lower end of this range.
The holotype specimen has an upcurved lower jaw, with the occluding surface curved in lateral view.
The holotype specimen's species epithet - "curvirostris" - comes from the Latin curvus, meaning "curved" and rostrum meaning snout, or muzzle. This is due to the specimen's noticeably upward-curved beak.