Alcione

Alcione is the first nyctosaurid pterosaur ever found from the very end of the Cretaceous period in Africa.1

Its arm and hand bones were short and thick, which gave it a smaller wingspan than other nyctosaurids. This may have helped it fly fast or dive into water.1

The upper arm bone (humerus) of Alcione had a hatchet-shaped crest for muscle attachment, a clue that it was a nyctosaurid.1

Alcione lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage. That is just before the big extinction that killed the non-bird dinosaurs.2

Scientists found Alcione in the same phosphate mines that have produced many other pterosaurs, like Phosphatodraco, and marine reptiles.1

Alcione was a small pterosaur compared to some of its giant relatives. Its short wings suggest it did not soar like a frigatebird but flapped more often.1