page_title: Simurghia
section_title: Paleoecology
hierarchical_section_title: Simurghia / Paleoecology
caption_attribution_description: A) Map showing the location of the phosphate mines in Morocco, (B) map showing Sidi Daoui and Sidi Chennane mines, and (C) stratigraphic column for the phosphates of the Sidi Daoui area (after [40]). Abbreviations: PETM, Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
context_page_description: Simurghia is a genus nyctosaurid pterosaur from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco, a basin that dates to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. It was published in 2018 by paleontologists Nicholas R. Longrich, David M. Martill, and Brian Andres, along with two other nyctosaurids from the same basin: Alcione and Barbaridactylus. The type and only species is S. robusta.
context_section_description: Simurghia was discovered in upper Maastrichtian phosphates located in the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Northern Morocco. This geological formation does not belong to a formation. It is divided into couches, with Simurghia being discovered in Couche III. This layer dates back to the latest Maastrichtian, about 1 million years before the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous. Couche III represents the most diverse marine ecosystem known from the time.
  A large variety of marine life is known from the region, including sharks and bony fish, in addition to turtles, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. A few rare, fragmentary dinosaur fossils are known, including an abelisaur and a sauropod. Other pterosaurs in the formation were originally only represented by the azhdarchid Phosphatodraco mauritanicus. However, in addition to Simurghia, more recent studies have revealed at least five more pterosaur species from this location, including Barbaridactylus, Alcione and Tethydraco.
caption: Locality and stratigraphy of the discovery site of Simurghia.
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