Due to the fragmentary nature of the material, preserving no key features such as the nasoantorbital fenestra, it is difficult to determine if the holotype represents a mandible or a fragment of the upper jaw.

However McPhee et al. concluded that the fossil was most likely part of the upper jaw based on the relatively high lateral angle of the rostrum, which in most pterosaur taxa is greater than that of the mandible.

As the beak moves further towards the end of the skull, the cross-section takes on a more "tear-drop" shape with noticeably convex lateral margins and a deeper occlusal groove.

As the fossil otherwise resembles the holotype in cross-section, occlusal pit and sharing the same single row of foramina, it has been interpreted to represent a mandibular fragment.

The fossils differ from those of Pteranodontians through the thicker bony walls, less pointed beak, shallower rostrum and the presence of the foramina along the lateral surface.

One possible exception would be Banguela, however the placement of this taxon within Dsungaripteridae has been questioned and it furthermore greatly differs from Apatorhamphus due to its blade-like occlusal surface.

[1] Apatorhamphus was part of a diverse assemblage of pterosaurs native to Cretaceous North Africa, which inhabited an area offering a variety of ecological niches including ponds, lakes, marshes and river banks.

During the Cretaceous this area was home to the azhdarchid Alanqa,[2] the tapejarid Afrotapejara,[3] a variety of anhanguerids as well as Xericeps,[4] another possible chaoyangopterid,[5] and Leptostomia, a long beaked azhdarchoid.