A long-necked pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea, Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Valencia, Spain

Fragmentary remains, including cervical vertebrae and limb bones, of a larg e pterosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Tous, province of Valencia (Spain) , are described. The material was recovered from lacustrine beds in the upp er part of the Calizas y Margas de Sierra Perenchiza Formation, which is pr obably Maastrichtian in age. Six fragments of vertebrae allow a reconstruct ion of the anatomy of the mid-series cervicals of the animal. The general m orphology of the cervical vertebrae is closely similar to that of the long- necked Azhdarchidae. Compared to other azhdarchids, the Valencia pterosaur shows minor differences from the genera Azhdarcho and Quetzalcoatlus, and i s here provisionally referred to as Azhdarchidae indet. A wingspan of about 5.5 m is calculated by comparison with other known azhdarchids. This is th e second azhdarchid pterosaur described from the Iberian peninsula. It conf irms the wide distribution of this group of large pterosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous.