Elrhaz Formation

Elrhaz Formation
Elrhaz Formation
Stratigraphic range: Early Cretaceous (Barremian to Albian), 125–112 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Outcrops of the formation near Gadoufaoua
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Tegama Group
Underlies	Echkar Formation
Overlies	Tazolé Formation
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone
Location
Coordinates	16°48′N 9°30′E / 16.8°N 9.5°E
Approximate paleocoordinates	3°06′N 4°54′E / 3.1°N 4.9°E
Region	Africa
Country	Niger
Extent	Tenere desert

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

Gadoufaoua (Tuareg for "the place where camels fear to go") is a site within the Elrhaz Formation (located at 16°50′N 9°25′E / 16.833°N 9.417°E / 16.833; 9.417) 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.

Gadoufaoua is very hot and dry. However, it is supposed that millions of years ago, Gadoufaoua had trees, plants, and wide rivers. The river covered the remains of dead animals, the fossilized remains of which were protected by the drying rivers over millions of years.

Vertebrate paleofauna

Chondrichthyes

Chondrichthyes
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Hybodus	H. sp.	Dorsal spines

Sarcopterygii

Sarcopterygii
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Asiatoceratodus	A. tiguidiensis		Dipnomorph fish. Originally described as Ceratodus tiguidiensis, assigned to Arganodus by M. Martin (1984) and reassigned by Kemp (1998) to the genus Asiatoceratodus.
Mawsonia	M. tegamensis		A small species.
Neoceratodus	N. africanus	Tooth plates.	Dipnomorph fish. Originally described as Ceratodus africanus, assigned to Neoceratodus by M. Martin, 1982.	Neoceratodus forsteri, a modern species

Actinopterygii

Actinopterygii
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Pliodetes	P. nigeriensis	Skull and postcranial material including body scales.	Originally thought to be a semionotid, later assigned to Lepisosteoidei.
Pycnodontidae indet.	Indeterminate

Testudines

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

Crocodyliformes

Crocodyliformes
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Anatosuchus	A. minor	"Nearly complete skull"
Araripesuchus	A. wegeneri	"Nearly complete skull"
Sarcosuchus	S. imperator	"Partial skeletons, numerous skulls"
Stolokrosuchus	S. lapparenti

Ornithischians

Ornithischians
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Elrhazosaurus	E. nigeriensis	"Femora."	A dryosaurid
Lurdusaurus	L. arenatus	"Partial skull, fragmentary postcranial skeleton."
Ouranosaurus	O. nigeriensis	"Skull and poscrania, second skeleton."

Theropods

Theropods
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Afromimus	A. tenerensis	"caudal vertebrae, chevrons and portions of the right hind limb"	A Noasaurid
Eocarcharia	E. dinops	"Partial skull and postcranial remains."	Carcharodontosaurid
Kryptops	K. palaios	Postcranial skeleton and partial skull.	Abelisaurid
Suchomimus	S. tenerensis	Partial skull and associated skeleton.	A second, spinosaurid found in the formation, Cristatusaurus, is considered either a separate species or a synonym to Suchomimus

Sauropods


Sauropods
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Nigersaurus	N. taqueti		Skull and skeletal remains

References

Bibliography

Sereno, P. C.; H. C. Larsson; C. A. Sidor, and B. Gado. 2001. The giant crocodyliform Sarcosuchus from the Cretaceous of Africa. Science 294. 1516–1519. Accessed 2018-10-06. doi:10.1126/science.1066521ISSN 0036-8075PMID 11679634
Sereno, Paul C., and Stephen L. Brusatte. 2008. Basal abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods from the Lower Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Niger. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53. 15–49. Accessed 2018-10-06.
Weishampel, David B.; Peter Dodson, and Halszka Osmólska (eds.). 2004. The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, 1–880. Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2019-02-21. ISBN 0-520-24209-2

P. M. Galton and P. Taquet. 1982. Valdosaurus, a hypsilophodontid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Europe and Africa. Géobios 15(2):147-159
H. C. E. Larsson and B. Gado. 2000. A new Early Cretaceous crocodyliform from Niger. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 217(1):131-141
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
P. C. Sereno and H. C. E. Larsson. 2009. Cretaceous crocodyliformes from the Sahara. ZooKeys 28:1-143
P. C. Sereno, A. L. Beck, D. B. Dutheil, B. Gado, H. C. E. Larsson, G. H. Lyon, J. D. Marcot, O. W. M. Rauhut, R. W. Sadleir, C. A. Sidor, D. D. Varricchio, G. P. Wilson, and J. A. Wilson. 1998. A long-snouted predatory dinosaur from Africa and the evolution of spinosaurids. Science 282:1298-1302

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