[dinosaur] Sauropod fossils and teeth from mid-Cretaceous of North Africa

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A new paper:

Femke M. Holwerda (2019)
Sauropod dinosaur fossils from the Kem Kem and extended 'Continental
Intercalaire' of North Africa: a review.
Journal of African Earth Sciences: Article 103738 (advance online
publication)
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1016_j.jafrearsci.2019.103738&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=KfLUdzJlKtP7R2-p5xnGK3RUvJBN5imFQLuy158blLw&s=wjFvkGMsD9UD2TCuKQmEC2qVde_gdw8qUA4ul5EQr8s&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.sciencedirect.com_science_article_pii_S1464343X19303930&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=KfLUdzJlKtP7R2-p5xnGK3RUvJBN5imFQLuy158blLw&s=i9bhVgsxIZvbB8z9m9auWtUM9dacvBBaM8R-hV2EO30&e= 

Highlights

Synthesis of all North African mid-Cretaceous sauropod occurrences
Comprehensive connection of 'Continental Intercalaire' throughout the region
Palaeobiogeographical implications reveal mobility of sauropods, especially
between North Africa and Southern Europe, as well as between Africa and
South America

Abstract

The Cretaceous (likely Aptian-Cenomanian) Kem Kem beds of Morocco are
famous for their fossil-richness, including theropods, and several sauropod
body fossils, such as Rebbachisaurus garasbae, as well as isolated sauropod
teeth. Deposits from this particular age, however, stretch across Algeria
and Tunisia, with possibly contemporaneous fossiliferous beds also being
known from Egypt and Niger. Although the sediments of North Africa have
yielded more complete sauropod specimens in recent years dated to either
Cenomanian or Campanian-Maastrichtian, in general, these sites are not
well-known. A recent study on isolated sauropod teeth from Morocco and
Algeria revealed that a diverse sauropod fauna existed, and, moreover,
evidence has been found of sauropod migration from Africa to Europe in the
Cretaceous. In order to provide a better overview of the sauropod presence
in the Albian-Cenomanian of North Africa, an overview of all sauropod
material known from this time is necessary. Therefore, several previous
reports on sauropod fossils and teeth from the Kem Kem and the 'Continental
Intercalaire' of North Africa are here reviewed and summarized.

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