Coordinates: 16°48′N 9°30′E / 16.8°N 9.5°E / 16.8; 9.5

Elrhaz Formation

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Elrhaz Formation
Stratigraphic range: Early Cretaceous (Barremian to Albian), 125–112 Ma
File:Gadoufaoua.png
Outcrops of the formation near Gadoufaoua
TypeGeological formation
Unit ofTegama Group
UnderliesEchkar Formation
OverliesTazolé Formation
Lithology
PrimarySandstone
Location
CoordinatesLua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Approximate paleocoordinatesLua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found.
RegionAfrica
CountryNiger
ExtentTenere desert

The Elrhaz Formation is a geological formation in Niger, West Africa.

Its strata date back to the Early Cretaceous, about 125 to 112 million years ago. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, alongside those of multiple species of crocodyliformes.

Gadoufaoua

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File:African pterosaur.jpg
Reconstructed skeleton of an anhanguerid from the formation

Gadoufaoua (Tuareg for "the place where camels fear to go") is a site within the Elrhaz Formation (located at Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found.) in the Tenere desert of Niger known for its extensive fossil graveyard. It is where remains of Sarcosuchus imperator, popularly known as SuperCroc, were found (by Paul Sereno in 1997, for example), including vertebrae, limb bones, armor plates, jaws, and a nearly complete 6 feet (1.8 m) skull.

File:Erlhaz Formation.jpg
Dinosaurs of Elrhaz formation
File:Claw of Spinosaur.jpg
A spinosaurid claw from the Elrhaz formation

Gadoufaoua is very hot and dry. Based on the sedimentary and fossil record, Gadoufaoua had trees, plants, and wide rivers 112 million years ago. The river covered the remains of dead animals, the fossilized remains of which were protected by the drying rivers over millions of years.[1]

Vertebrate paleofauna

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Chondrichthyes

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Chondrichthyes
Genus Species Material Notes Images
Hybodus[2] H. sp. Dorsal spines[2]
File:Hybodus model.jpg

Sarcopterygii

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Sarcopterygii
Genus Species Material Notes Images
Asiatoceratodus[2] A. tiguidiensis[2] Dipnomorph fish. Originally described as Ceratodus tiguidiensis,[3] assigned to Arganodus by M. Martin (1984)[4] and reassigned by Kemp (1998) to the genus Asiatoceratodus.[5]
Mawsonia[6] M. tegamensis[6] A small species.[7]
File:MawsoniaDB16 (cropped).jpg
Neoceratodus[2] N. africanus[2] Tooth plates.[8] Dipnomorph fish. Originally described as Ceratodus africanus, assigned to Neoceratodus by M. Martin, 1982.[9]
File:Neoceratodus forsteri Cologne Zoo.jpg
Neoceratodus forsteri, a modern species

Actinopterygii

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Actinopterygii
Genus Species Material Notes Images
Pliodetes[10] P. nigeriensis[10] Skull and postcranial material including body scales.[11] Originally thought to be a semionotid, later assigned to Lepisosteoidei.[11]
File:Scales of Pliodetes nigeriensis.png
Pycnodontidae indet.[2] Indeterminate

Testudines

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Testudines
Genus Species Material Notes Images
Francemys[12] F. gadoufaouaensis[12] "Shell of a juvenile individual and several articulated and disarticulated plates."[12] Pelomedusoid turtle. Named in honour of France de Lapparent de Broin.[12]
Taquetochelys[13] T. decorata[13] A few disarticulated plates and nearly complete skeleton.[14] Araripemydid turtle, similar in shell size to South American Araripemys (20–30 cm). Laganemys tenerensis was synonymysed with Taquetochelys by Pérez-García, 2018.[14]
Teneremys[13] T. lapparenti[13] "Several relatively complete skeletons."[12]

Crocodyliformes

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Crocodyliformes
Genus Species Material Notes Images
Anatosuchus[15] A. minor[15] "Nearly complete skull"
File:Anatosuchus BW.jpg
Araripesuchus[15] A. wegeneri[15] "Nearly complete skull"
File:Araripesuchus wegeneri.jpg
Sarcosuchus[16] S. imperator "Partial skeletons, numerous skulls"
File:Sarcosuchus Illustration.jpg
Stolokrosuchus S. lapparenti

Dinosaurs

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Ornithischians

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Ornithischians
Genus Species Material Notes Images
Elrhazosaurus[15] E. nigeriensis[15] "Femora."[17] A dryosaurid
File:Elrhazosaurus NT.png
Lurdusaurus[15] L. arenatus[15] "Partial skull, fragmentary postcranial skeleton."[18]
File:Lurdusaurus1.jpg
Ouranosaurus[15] O. nigeriensis[15] "Skull and poscrania, second skeleton."[19]
File:Ouranosaurus nigeriensis restoration.png

Theropods

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Theropods
Genus Species Material Notes Images
Afromimus A. tenerensis "caudal vertebrae, chevrons and portions of the right hind limb"[20] A putative noasaurid[21]
File:Afromimus LM (gray).png
Cristatusaurus[22] C. lapparenti[22] Jaw bones and vertebral fragments.[22] A spinosaurid potentially synonymous with Suchomimus[23]
File:Cristatusaurus lapparenti by PaleoGeek.png
Eocarcharia[15] E. dinops[24] "Partial skull and postcranial remains."[25] Known from chimaeric remains; the holotype and skull roof material likely derive from a baryonychine spinosaurid, while the referred maxilla is from a carcharodontosaurid.[26]
File:Eocarcharia, improved.png
Kryptops[15] K. palaios[15] Postcranial skeleton and partial skull.[27] An abelisaurid
File:Kryptops life restoration.jpg
Suchomimus[15] S. tenerensis[15] Partial skull and associated skeleton.[28] A baryonychine spinosaurid
File:Suchomimus2.jpg

Sauropods

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Sauropods
Genus Species Material Notes Images
Nigersaurus N. taqueti Skull and skeletal remains A rebbachisaurid.
File:Nigersaurus BW.jpg

Flora

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Plants
Genus Species Material Notes Images
Paradoxopteris[29] P. stromeri A tree fern and member of Matoniaceae.
Protophyllocladoxylon P.chudeaui A conifer[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Nov. 13: Digest - 12 November 2001 Voice of America
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "On the dinosaurian and crocodilian locality of Gadoufaoua (Republic of Niger)" (PDF). From Mr. Philippe Taquet (1970), presented by Mr. Jean Piveteau.
  3. ^ N. Tabaste. 1963. Étude derestes de poissons du Crétacé saharien [Study of fish remains from the Saharan Cretaceous]. Mélanges Ichthyologiques Dédiés à la Mémoire d'Achille Valenciennes (1794–1865). Mémoires de l'Institute Français d'Afrique Noire 68:437-485
  4. ^ Martin, M., 1984. Révision des Arganodontidés et des Néocératodontidés (Dipnoi, Ceratodontiformes) du Crétacé africain. Neues Jb. Geol. Paläontol. Abh. 169, 225–260.
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  9. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  10. ^ a b S. Wenz. 1999. Pliodetes nigeriensis, gen. nov. et. sp. nov., a new semionotid fish from the Lower Cretaceous of Gadoufaoua (Niger Republic): phylogenetic comments. In G. Arratia & H.-P. Schultz (ed.), Mesozoic Fishes 2—Systematics and Fossil Record 107-120
  11. ^ a b A. López-Arbarello. 2012. Phylogenetic interrelationships of ginglymodian fishes (Actinopterygii: Neopterygii). PLoS ONE
  12. ^ a b c d e Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  13. ^ a b c d F. de Broin. 1980. Les tortues de Gadoufaoua (Aptien du Niger); aperçu sur la Paléobiogéographie des Pelomedusidae (Pleurodira). Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France
  14. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "68.1 Departement D'Agedez, Niger; 1. Elrhaz Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 572
  16. ^ Sereno et al., 2011
  17. ^ "Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 415.
  18. ^ "Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 416.
  19. ^ "Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 417.
  20. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  23. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  24. ^ Sereno & Brusatte, 2008
  25. ^ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 73.
  26. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  27. ^ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2008). Page 72.
  28. ^ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 72.
  29. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).

Bibliography

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Further reading

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  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  • P. C. Sereno and S. J. ElShafie. 2013. A New Long-Necked Turtle, Laganemys tenerensis (Pleurodira: Araripemydidae), from the Elrhaz Formation (Aptian–Albian) of Niger. In D. B. Brinkman, P. A. Holroyd, J. D. Gardner (eds.), Morphology and Evolution of Turtles 215–250
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