| Alanqids | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Holotype jaws ofAlanqa | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Clade: | †Azhdarchoidea |
| Clade: | †Azhdarchiformes |
| Family: | †Alanqidae Pêgas et al.,2022 |
| Genera | |
Alanqidae is a group ofazhdarchoid pterosaurs from theLate Cretaceous of North Africa and South America. It is defined as all pterosaurs more closely related toAlanqa saharica than toChaoyangopterus zhangi (achaoyangopterid) orAzhdarcho lancicollis (anazhdarchid).
Alanqids are united by their unique jaw anatomy that may have been used for probe feeding or a diet consisting ofmolluscs inriparian and coastal ecosystems. They are notable for surviving theCenomanian-Turonian extinction that killed many forms of pterosaurs, though they did not survive to the end of theCretaceous.[1][2]
Named in 2022 to containAlanqa andKeresdrakon,[1] the group has since been consistently recovered in both tapejarid[3][4] and azhdarchid-focused[5][6][7] phylogenetic analyses of azhdarchoids to includeAlanqa,Leptostomia, andXericeps from theKem Kem Group ofMorocco andArgentinadraco from thePortezuelo Formation ofArgentina. The results of aphylogenetic analysis in a 2025 study ofazhdarchoid relationships by Henry Thomas and Skye McDavid are shown below.[2]
