Middle Eocene vertebrate fauna from the Aridal Formation, Sabkha of Gueran, southwestern Morocco

Zouhri, Samir; Gingerich, Philip D.; Khalloufi, Bouziane; Bourdon, Estelle; Adnet, Sylvain; Jouve, Stéphane; Elboudali, Najia; Amane, Ayoub; Rage, Jean‐Claude; Tabuce, Rodolphe

doi:10.5252/geodiversitas2021v43a5

Cited by 537 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 80 publications

(87 reference statements)

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“…11A). Similar teeth from different middle Eocene localities have been referred to Hemipristis (e.g., Adnet et al, 2020; Zouhri et al, 2021). A second serrated morphotype is represented by a single tooth with a low and rounded crown (IPS103637).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fossil assemblage from Pontils, a middle Eocene primate-bearing locality from Northeastern Spain

Minwer-Barakat,

Bolet,

Anadón

et al. 2023

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

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The Pontils fossil site (middle Eocene, Ebro Basin, Spain) includes several vertebrate-bearing levels situated in a sequence recording a continental to marine transition. Although the locality has been known since the 1980s and scarce mammal remains have been already documented, an intensive sampling has not been developed until now. This work presents the first results of the recent field campaigns carried out at this site. Seven levels have yielded significant vertebrate remains, revealing a diverse assemblage which includes chondrichthyans, actinopterygians, amphibians, crocodilians, squamates, metatherians, eulipotyphlans, apatotherians, chiropterans, rodents, artiodactyls, perissodactyls, and primates, besides other non-vertebrate fossils. The Pontils assemblage indicates a mangrove swamp environment with warm and humid conditions and increasing marine influence towards the top of the sequence. Among mammals, primates are particularly diverse, including abundant remains of a minuscule, still undetermined omomyiform, and scarce teeth of Pseudoloris, Necrolemur, and an undetermined anchomomyin. The occurrence of larger benthic foraminifera allows the assignment of Pontils to Shallow Benthic Zone 17 (Bartonian), solving the debate about the age of the locality, previously assigned either to the Bartonian or the Lutetian. These data, together with previous magnetostratigraphic analyses, allow correlation to chrons C18r or C18n.1r, constraining the age of Pontils to between 39.58 and 41 Ma. Therefore, the Pontils site represents a new reference section for the correlation of marine and continental biostratigraphy during the middle Eocene.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fossil assemblage from Pontils, a middle Eocene primate-bearing locality from Northeastern Spain

Minwer-Barakat,

Bolet,

Anadón

et al. 2023

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

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“…In Africa, palaeophiids have been known since the very beginning of the twentieth century (Andrews, 1901(Andrews, , 1906Janensch, 1906). However, despite these early discoveries, only a few subsequent descriptions followed during the next decades, all of them originating from a small number of Paleogene localities of this continent (Andrews, 1924;Antunes, 1964;Arambourg, 1952;Folie et al, 2021;Hoffstetter, 1960Hoffstetter, , 1961Houssaye et al, 2013Houssaye et al, , 2019McCartney & Seiffert, 2016;McCartney et al, 2018;Rage, 1983b;Zouhri et al, 2018Zouhri et al, , 2021. Sudanese and Moroccan Cretaceous remains have been referred (or at least tentatively referred) to palaeophiids, extending the stratigraphic distribution of the group back to the Mesozoic (Rage & Werner, 1999;Rage & Wouters, 1979).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An assemblage of giant aquatic snakes (Serpentes, Palaeophiidae) from the Eocene of Togo

et al. 2021

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We here describe a monospecific assemblage of giant aquatic snakes from the middle Eocene of Kpogamé, Togo. The material, consisting of large isolated vertebrae, is referred to Palaeophis africanus, an enigmatic palaeophiid species, which was so far otherwise known only from a limited number of vertebrae from the middle Eocene of Nigeria and Angola. Material from the late Eocene of the eastern USA that had been referred to the same species, is here instead considered too fragmentary for species-level determination and Palaeophis africanus is thus so far restricted to Africa. With the aid of micro-CT scanning, we present 3D models of 17 vertebrae, pertaining to different portions of the vertebral column. We provide detailed comparisons of the new material with all named African species of the genus Palaeophis. A tentative diagnosis of Palaeophis africanus is provided. With more than 50 vertebrae, the new Togolese specimens represent the most abundant known material attributed to Palaeophis africanus and significantly enhance our knowledge of the vertebral anatomy and intracolumnar variation for this taxon. Furthermore, this adds to the, as yet, extremely scarce fossil record of squamates from central western Africa, a region where Paleogene herpetofaunas are only rather poorly known.

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Pelagornithidae, Gastornithidae, and Crown Group Galloanseres

Mayr

2022

Fascinating Life Sciences

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Middle Eocene vertebrate fauna from the Aridal Formation, Sabkha of Gueran, southwestern Morocco

Abstract: couverture / cover : Réalisée à partir des Figures de l'article/Made from the Figures of the article.

Cited by 537 publications

References 80 publications

The fossil assemblage from Pontils, a middle Eocene primate-bearing locality from Northeastern Spain

The fossil assemblage from Pontils, a middle Eocene primate-bearing locality from Northeastern Spain

An assemblage of giant aquatic snakes (Serpentes, Palaeophiidae) from the Eocene of Togo

Pelagornithidae, Gastornithidae, and Crown Group Galloanseres

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