Leptostomia
| Leptostomia Temporal range: mid-Cretaceous,
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|---|---|
| Beak bones of Leptostomia; holotype rostrum (top jaw) (A–E) and paratype mandible (lower jaw) (F–H) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Pterosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pterodactyloidea |
| Clade: | †Azhdarchoidea |
| Clade: | †Azhdarchiformes |
| Family: | †Alanqidae |
| Genus: | †Leptostomia Smith et al., 2021 |
| Type species | |
| †Leptostomia begaaensis Smith et al., 2021
| |
Leptostomia (lit. 'slim mouth') is an extinct genus of pterosaur that lived during the Cenomanian and possibly Albian stages of the ?Early-Late Cretaceous period in what is now Morocco, North Africa. Leptostomia is known from only two isolated rostrum (beak) fragments. In 2021, paleontologist Roy E. Smith and colleagues named the type and only known species, Leptostomia begaaensis, based on these fossils. Leptostomia is a small pterosaur, with the complete skull length estimated between 6 and 20 centimeters (2.4 and 7.9 in), making it much smaller than many contemporary pterosaurs. The beak of Leptostomia is remarkably long, narrow, and compressed from the top down, a morphology unseen in any other known pterosaur.
Due to a lack of remains, the exact classification of Leptostomia is uncertain; it has been recovered in various positions within Azhdarchoidea, a group of edentulous (toothless) pterodactyloid pterosaurs. Leptostomia has been proposed to have a similar lifestyle to probe sensing birds like sandpipers and sanderlings due to its beak anatomy and paleoenvironment.
The Leptostomia fossils were found in rock layers of the Ifezouane Formation, which is part of the Kem Kem beds. This environment was made up of river systems, tidal flats, and mangroves, which would have supported a diverse fauna of invertebrates like crabs and worms. If it was a probe feeder, Leptostomia likely would have preyed on these invertebrates. The Kem Kem beds preserve a variety of other fossils, including several other genera of pterosaurs, as well as fossils of dinosaurs, crocodylomorphs, mammals, lizards, turtles, fish, and more.