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Ibrahim N, Sereno PC, Varricchio DJ, Martill DM, Dutheil DB, Unwin DM, Baidder L, Larsson HC, Zouhri S, Kaoukaya A. Geology and paleontology of the Upper Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of eastern Morocco. Zookeys 2020; 928:1-216. [PMID: 32362741 PMCID: PMC7188693 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.928.47517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2019] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The geological and paleoenvironmental setting and the vertebrate taxonomy of the fossiliferous, Cenomanian-age deltaic sediments in eastern Morocco, generally referred to as the "Kem Kem beds", are reviewed. These strata are recognized here as the Kem Kem Group, which is composed of the lower Gara Sbaa and upper Douira formations. Both formations have yielded a similar fossil vertebrate assemblage of predominantly isolated elements pertaining to cartilaginous and bony fishes, turtles, crocodyliforms, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs, as well as invertebrate, plant, and trace fossils. These fossils, now in collections around the world, are reviewed and tabulated. The Kem Kem vertebrate fauna is biased toward large-bodied carnivores including at least four large-bodied non-avian theropods (an abelisaurid, Spinosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, and Deltadromeus), several large-bodied pterosaurs, and several large crocodyliforms. No comparable modern terrestrial ecosystem exists with similar bias toward large-bodied carnivores. The Kem Kem vertebrate assemblage, currently the best documented association just prior to the onset of the Cenomanian-Turonian marine transgression, captures the taxonomic diversity of a widespread northern African fauna better than any other contemporary assemblage from elsewhere in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nizar Ibrahim
- Department of Biology, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, Michigan 48221, USA
| | - Paul C. Sereno
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
| | - David J. Varricchio
- Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA
| | - David M. Martill
- School of the Environment, Geography and Geological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3QL, UK
| | - Didier B. Dutheil
- Centre de Recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements, UMR7207 (CNRS-MNHN-UPMC), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - David M. Unwin
- School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RF, UK
| | - Lahssen Baidder
- Laboratoire Géosciences, Département de Géologie, Faculté des Sciences Aïn Chock, Université Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco
| | | | - Samir Zouhri
- Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Santé, Faculté des Sciences Aïn Chock, Université Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco
| | - Abdelhadi Kaoukaya
- Laboratoire Géosciences, Département de Géologie, Faculté des Sciences Aïn Chock, Université Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco
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An abelisaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) ilium from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of the Kem Kem beds, Morocco. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0214055. [PMID: 30939139 PMCID: PMC6445567 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2018] [Accepted: 03/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Abelisaurid theropods first appear in the fossil record in the early Jurassic and survived at least until the end of the Mesozoic. They were known to have dominated South America, India and Madagascar but were not so abundant in North America or Asia. Much less is known about their presence in Africa, although there has been several recent discoveries of abelisaurid material in Morocco. Here we add a partially preserved ilium to a growing body of evidence that suggests abelisaurs might also have dominated Africa.
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Holwerda FM, Díez Díaz V, Blanco A, Montie R, Reumer JWF. Late Cretaceous sauropod tooth morphotypes may provide supporting evidence for faunal connections between North Africa and Southern Europe. PeerJ 2018; 6:e5925. [PMID: 30473934 PMCID: PMC6237117 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.5925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2018] [Accepted: 10/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The Cretaceous Kem Kem beds of Morocco and equivalent beds in Algeria have produced a rich fossil assemblage, yielding, amongst others, isolated sauropod teeth, which can be used in species diversity studies. These Albian-Cenomanian (∼113–93.9 Ma) strata rarely yield sauropod body fossils, therefore, isolated teeth can help to elucidate the faunal assemblages from North Africa, and their relations with those of contemporaneous beds and geographically close assemblages. Eighteen isolated sauropod teeth from three localities (Erfoud and Taouz, Morocco, and Algeria) are studied here, to assess whether the teeth can be ascribed to a specific clade, and whether different tooth morphotypes can be found in the samples. Two general morphotypes are found, based on enamel wrinkling and general tooth morphology. Morphotype I, with mainly rugose enamel wrinkling, pronounced carinae, lemon-shaped to (sub)cylindrical cross-section and mesiodistal tapering towards an apical tip, shows affinities to titanosauriforms and titanosaurs. Morphotype II, characterized by more smooth enamel, cylindrical cross-section, rectangular teeth with no apical tapering and both labial and lingual wear facets, shows similarities to rebbachisaurids. Moreover, similarities are found between these northwest African tooth morphotypes, and tooth morphotypes from titanosaurs and rebbachisaurids from both contemporaneous finds from north and central Africa, as well as from the latest Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian, 83.6 Ma–66.0 Ma) of the Ibero-Armorican Island. These results support previous hypotheses from earlier studies on faunal exchange and continental connections between North Africa and Southern Europe in the Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Femke M Holwerda
- Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.,SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Munich, Bavaria, Germany.,Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and GeoBioCenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
| | - Verónica Díez Díaz
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions-und Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin, Germany.,Humboldt Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alejandro Blanco
- SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Munich, Bavaria, Germany.,Centro de Investigacións Científicas Avanzadas (CICA), Facultade de Ciencias, Universidade da Coruña, A Coruña, Spain
| | - Roel Montie
- Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.,SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Munich, Bavaria, Germany.,Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and GeoBioCenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
| | - Jelle W F Reumer
- Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
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Hendrickx C, Mateus O, Buffetaut E. Morphofunctional Analysis of the Quadrate of Spinosauridae (Dinosauria: Theropoda) and the Presence of Spinosaurus and a Second Spinosaurine Taxon in the Cenomanian of North Africa. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0144695. [PMID: 26734729 PMCID: PMC4703214 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2014] [Accepted: 11/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Six quadrate bones, of which two almost certainly come from the Kem Kem beds (Cenomanian, Upper Cretaceous) of south-eastern Morocco, are determined to be from juvenile and adult individuals of Spinosaurinae based on phylogenetic, geometric morphometric, and phylogenetic morphometric analyses. Their morphology indicates two morphotypes evidencing the presence of two spinosaurine taxa ascribed to Spinosaurus aegyptiacus and? Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis in the Cenomanian of North Africa, casting doubt on the accuracy of some recent skeletal reconstructions which may be based on elements from several distinct species. Morphofunctional analysis of the mandibular articulation of the quadrate has shown that the jaw mechanics was peculiar in Spinosauridae. In mature spinosaurids, the posterior parts of the two mandibular rami displaced laterally when the jaw was depressed due to a lateromedially oriented intercondylar sulcus of the quadrate. Such lateral movement of the mandibular ramus was possible due to a movable mandibular symphysis in spinosaurids, allowing the pharynx to be widened. Similar jaw mechanics also occur in some pterosaurs and living pelecanids which are both adapted to capture and swallow large prey items. Spinosauridae, which were engaged, at least partially, in a piscivorous lifestyle, were able to consume large fish and may have occasionally fed on other prey such as pterosaurs and juvenile dinosaurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christophe Hendrickx
- GeoBioTec, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
- Museu da Lourinhã, Lourinhã, Portugal
| | - Octávio Mateus
- GeoBioTec, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
- Museu da Lourinhã, Lourinhã, Portugal
| | - Eric Buffetaut
- CNRS (UMR 8538), Laboratoire de Géologie de l’École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Paris, France
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Evers SW, Rauhut OWM, Milner AC, McFeeters B, Allain R. A reappraisal of the morphology and systematic position of the theropod dinosaur Sigilmassasaurus from the "middle" Cretaceous of Morocco. PeerJ 2015; 3:e1323. [PMID: 26500829 PMCID: PMC4614847 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.1323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2015] [Accepted: 09/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis is an enigmatic theropod dinosaur from the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Morocco, originally based on a few isolated cervical vertebrae. Ever since its original description, both its taxonomic validity and systematic affinities were contentious. Originally considered to represent its own family, Sigilmassasauridae, the genus has variously been suggested to represent a carcharodontosaurid, an ornithischian, and, more recently, a spinosaurid. Here we describe new remains referrable to this taxon and re-evaluate its taxonomic status and systematic affinities. Based on the new remains, a re-evaluation of the original materials, and comparisons with other spinosaurids, the holotype of Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis is identified as an anterior dorsal, rather than a cervical vertebra, and differences between elements referred to this taxon can be explained by different positions of the elements in question within the vertebral column. Many characters used previously to diagnose the genus and species are found to be more widespread among basal tetanurans, and specifically spinosaurids. However, the taxon shows several autapomorphies that support its validity, including the presence of a strongly rugose, ventrally offset triangular platform that is confluent with a ventral keel anteriorly in the mid-cervical vertebral centra and a strongly reduced lateral neural arch lamination, with no or an incomplete distinction between anterior and posterior centrodiapophyseal laminae in the posterior cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrae. We argue furthermore that Spinosaurus maroccanus, also described on the basis of isolated cervical vertebrae from the same stratigraphic unit and in the same paper as Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis, is a subjective synonym of the latter. Both a detailed comparison of this taxon with other theropods and a formal phylogenetic analysis support spinosaurid affintities for Sigilmassasaurus. However, we reject the recently proposed synonymy of both Spinosaurus maroccanus and Sigilmassasurus brevicollis with Spinosaurus aegyptiacus from the Cenomanian of Egypt, as there are clear differences between the vertebrae of these taxa, and they do not share any derived character that is not found in other spinosaurids. Together with a comparison with other spinosaurid vertebral material from the Kem Kem, this suggests that more than one taxon of spinosaurid was present in the Kem Kem assemblage of Morocco, so the referral of non-overlapping material from this unit to a single taxon should be regarded with caution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serjoscha W Evers
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford , Oxford , United Kingdom ; Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Munich , Germany
| | - Oliver W M Rauhut
- Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns (SNSB) , Munich , Germany ; Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften and GeoBioCenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-University , Munich , Germany
| | - Angela C Milner
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum , London , United Kingdom
| | | | - Ronan Allain
- Département Histoire de la Terre, Centre de Recherches sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Université Pierre et Marie Curie , Paris , France
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Díaz-Martínez I, Pereda-Suberbiola X, Pérez-Lorente F, Canudo JI. Ichnotaxonomic review of large ornithopod dinosaur tracks: temporal and geographic implications. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0115477. [PMID: 25674787 PMCID: PMC4326173 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0115477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2014] [Accepted: 11/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Large ornithopod tracks are known from the Upper Jurassic to the uppermost Cretaceous rocks of all continents but Antarctica. They include the tracks historically called Iguanodon footprints, iguanodontid footprints, hadrosaur/hadrosaurid footprints, and other large ornithopod tracks that have been used to define ichnotaxa. More than 40 ichnospecies based on large ornithopod tracks have been defined, but the validity of many of them is questionable. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS 34 ichnogenera and 44 ichnospecies have been analysed in this work. Many of them are considered to be invalid because they have been defined on the basis of poorly preserved tracks without diagnostic features, have an inadequate diagnosis, or are based on temporal and/or geographical criteria. Only eight ichnospecies belonging to the ichnogenera Caririchnium, Iguanodontipus and Hadrosauropodus are here regarded as valid. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE The monospecific ichnogenus Iguanodontipus (I. burreyi) is characterized by a small, rounded heel and elongate, narrow digit impressions. Its distribution is limited to the Berriasian-Valanginian of Europe. Caririchnium consists of four ichnospecies (C. magnificum [type ichnospecies], C. kortmeyeri, C. billsarjeanti and C. lotus) with a large, rounded heel and short, wide digit impressions. This ichnogenus ranges from the Berriasian-Hauterivian to the Aptian-Albian of South America, North America, Asia and Europe. Finally, Hadrosauropodus (three ichnospecies: H. langstoni [type ichnospecies], H. leonardii and H. kyoungsookimi) shows a large, bilobed heel and short, wide digit impressions. It is known from the Aptian-Albian to the Maastrichtian of North America, Asia and Europe. The ichnofamily Iguanodontipodidae includes large iguanodontian tracks characterized mainly by mesaxonic, tridactyl and subsymmetrical pes tracks that are as wide as (or wider than) long and have one pad impression in each digit and one in the heel. Its distribution is confidently limited to the Cretaceous of Europe, Asia, North America and South America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio Díaz-Martínez
- CONICET—Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, General Roca 1242, 8332 Fisque Menuco (General Roca), Río Negro, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencas, Estudios Agroalimentarios e Informática, Universidad de La Rioja, Madre de Dios 51–53, 26006 Logroño, La Rioja, Spain
| | - Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola
- Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Apartado 644, 48080, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Félix Pérez-Lorente
- Facultad de Ciencas, Estudios Agroalimentarios e Informática, Universidad de La Rioja, Madre de Dios 51–53, 26006 Logroño, La Rioja, Spain
| | - José Ignacio Canudo
- Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA, Área de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain
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Lockley MG, Xing L, Kim JY, Matsukawa M. Tracking Lower Cretaceous Dinosaurs in China: a new database for comparison with ichnofaunal data from Korea, the Americas, Europe, Africa and Australia. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Martin G. Lockley
- Dinosaur Trackers Research Group; University of Colorado Denver; CB 172 PO Box 173364 Denver CO 80217-3364 USA
| | - Lida Xing
- School of the Earth Sciences and Resources; China University of Geosciences; Beijing 100083 China
| | - Jeong Yul Kim
- Department of Earth Science Education; Korea National University of Education; Cheongwon Chungbuk 363-791 Korea
| | - Masaki Matsukawa
- Department of Environmental Sciences; Tokyo Gakugei University; Koganei Tokyo 184-8501 Japan
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