Arambourgiania

Arambourgiania is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North Africa. The type species is Arambourgiania magnificens. Fossils have been recovered from the Ouled Abdoun phosphate deposits of Morocco, dating to the Maastrichtian. The known material is fragmentary, primarily limb bones, which limits detailed reconstruction. The genus was named in honor of the French paleontologist Camille Arambourg; the species name magnificens means magnificent.

As an azhdarchid, Arambourgiania would have been a large, long-necked pterosaur with a long, stiff beak adapted to a terrestrial or semi-terrestrial lifestyle. The skull is not preserved in the available material, but azhdarchids are typically characterized by long, toothless jaws and an elongated neck, suggesting a feeding strategy that may have included foraging on land or along shorelines rather than fish-catching flight.

Size estimates for Arambourgiania place its wingspan among the largest for pterosaurs, commonly cited in the range of about 9 to 11 meters, with some estimates extending toward 12 meters. Such dimensions make it one of the largest pterosaurs known from Africa and from the Maastrichtian ecosystems of the Late Cretaceous.

Paleoecology and significance: Arambourgiania adds to the record of giant azhdarchids in Late Cretaceous Africa. While the precise behavior and diet remain uncertain due to limited material, its enormous size supports interpretations of azhdarchids as terrestrially foraging scavengers or generalist predators, occupying a prominent niche in their coastal and floodplain environments.