Echkar Formation | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Late Albian-Cenomanian ~ | |
Type | Geological formation |
Unit of | Tegama Group |
Underlies | Farak Formation |
Overlies | Elrhaz Formation |
Lithology | |
Primary | Sandstone |
Other | Claystone |
Location | |
Coordinates | 17°54′N5°36′E / 17.9°N 5.6°E |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 2°48′N0°24′E / 2.8°N 0.4°E |
Region | Agadez Region |
Country | Niger |
Extent | Iullemmeden Basin |
Type section | |
Named for | Echkar, Aderbissinat |
The Echkar Formation is a geological formation comprising sandstones and claystones in the Agadez Region of Niger, central Africa.
Its strata date back to the Late Albian to Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian stages, about 100-95 million years ago). Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. [1]
Fish of the Echkar Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Material | Notes | Images |
Ceratodus | C. sp. | |||
Lepidotes | L. sp. | |||
Onchopristis | O. numida | |||
Platyspondylus | P. foureaui | |||
Color key
| Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Ornithischians of the Echkar Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Material | Notes | Images |
?Stegosauria indet. | No genus given. May not actually belong to Stegosauria. | |||
Sauropods of the Echkar Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Material | Notes | Images |
Aegyptosaurus | A. baharijensis | |||
Rebbachisaurus | R. tamesnensis R. sp.[ citation needed ] | |||
Theropods of the Echkar Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Material | Notes | Images |
Bahariasaurus | B. ingens | |||
Carcharodontosaurus [3] | C. iguidensis [4] C. saharicus [2] | |||
Elaphrosaurus | E. iguidiensis (=Theropoda indet.) | Likely an indeterminate theropod. | ||
Inosaurus | I. tedreftensis | |||
Rugops | R. primus | |||
Spinosaurus | S. aegyptiacus | |||
Color key
| Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Reptiles of the Echkar Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Material | Notes | Images |
Araripesuchus | A. rattoides | |||
Elosuchus | E. sp. | |||
Fortignathus | F. felixi | |||
Kaprosuchus | K. saharicus | |||
Laganosuchus | L. thaumastos | |||
Testudines indet. | No genus given. | |||
Carcharodontosaurus is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in North Africa from about 100 to 94 million years ago during the Cenomanian age of the Cretaceous. Two teeth of the genus, now lost, were first described from Algeria by French paleontologists Charles Depéret and Justin Savornin as Megalosaurus saharicus. A partial skeleton was collected by crews of German paleontologist Ernst Stromer during a 1914 expedition to Egypt. Stromer did not report the Egyptian find until 1931, in which he dubbed the novel genus Carcharodontosaurus, making the type species C. saharicus. Unfortunately, this skeleton was destroyed during the Second World War. In 1995 a nearly complete skull of C. saharicus, the first well-preserved specimen to be found in almost a century, was discovered in the Kem Kem Beds of Morocco; it was designated the neotype in 1996. Fossils unearthed from the Echkar Formation of northern Niger were described and named as another species, C. iguidensis, in 2007.
Aegyptosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Africa, around 95 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period.
Afrovenator is a genus of megalosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Middle or Late Jurassic Period on the Tiourarén Formation and maybe the Irhazer II Formation of the Niger Sahara region in northern Africa. Afrovenator represents the only properly identified Gondwanan megalosaur, with proposed material of the group present in the Late Jurassic on Tacuarembó Formation of Uruguay and the Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania.
Rugops is a monospecific genus of basal abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from Niger that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now the Echkar Formation. The type and only species, Rugops primus, is known only from a partial skull. It was named and described in 2004 by Paul Sereno, Jeffery Wilson and Jack Conrad. Rugops has an estimated length of 4.4–5.3 metres (14–17 ft) and weight of 410 kilograms (900 lb). The top of its skull bears several pits which correlates with overlaying scale and the front of the snout would have had an armour-like dermis.
Bahariasaurus is an enigmatic genus of large theropod dinosaur. The genus is known to have included at least 1 species, Bahariasaurus ingens, which was found in North African rock layers dating to the Cenomanian and Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous. The only fossils confidently assigned to Bahariasaurus were found in the Bahariya Formation of the Bahariya oasis in Egypt by Ernst Stromer but were destroyed during a World War II bombing raid with the same raid taking out the holotype of Spinosaurus and Aegyptosaurus among other animals found in the Bahariya Formation. While there have been more fossils assigned to the genus such as some from the Farak Formation of Niger, these remains are referred to with much less certainty. Bahariasaurus is, by most estimations, one of the largest theropods, approaching the height and length of other large bodied theropods such as Tyrannosaurus rex and the contemporaneous Carcharodontosaurus. The aforementioned estimations tend to put it at around 11–12.2 metres in length and 4-4.8 tonnes in overall weight.
Rebbachisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur of the superfamily Diplodocoidea, that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in Africa and possibly also South America about 99-97 million years ago. Remains attributed to Rebbachisaurus have been found in Morocco, Niger, Algeria, Tunisia and possibly also Argentina, although only the Moroccan remains can be referred to the genus without doubt. The discovery of Rayososaurus, a South American sauropod nearly identical to Rebbachisaurus which may have actually have been the same animal as Rebbachisaurus, supports the theory that there was still a land connection between Africa and South America during the Early Cretaceous, long after it was commonly thought the two continents had separated.
Jeffrey A. Wilson, also known as JAW, is a paleontologist and professor of geological sciences and assistant curator at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan.
Cristatusaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now Niger, 112 million years ago. It was a baryonychine member of the Spinosauridae, a group of large bipedal carnivores with well-built forelimbs and elongated, crocodile-like skulls. The type species Cristatusaurus lapparenti was named in 1998 by scientists Philippe Taquet and Dale Russell, on the basis of jaw bones and some vertebrae. Two claw fossils were also later assigned to Cristatusaurus. The animal's generic name, which means "crested reptile", alludes to a sagittal crest on top of its snout; while the specific name is in honor of the French paleontologist Albert-Félix de Lapparent. Cristatusaurus is known from the Albian to Aptian Elrhaz Formation, where it would have coexisted with sauropod and iguanodontian dinosaurs, other theropods, and various crocodylomorphs.
Inosaurus is the name given to a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous-aged "Continental intercalaire" and Early Cretaceous (Albian)-aged Echkar Formation of Niger and possibly from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)-aged Baharija Formation of Egypt The type, and only species, is Inosaurus tedreftensis.
Sigilmassasaurus is a controversial genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived approximately 100 to 94 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now northern Africa. Named in 1996 by Canadian paleontologist Dale Russell, it contains a single species, Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis. The identity of the genus has been debated by scientists, with some considering its fossils to represent material from the closely related species Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, while others have classified it as a separate taxon, forming the clade Spinosaurini with Spinosaurus as its sister taxon.
Spinostropheus is a genus of carnivorous neotheropod theropod dinosaur that lived in the Middle Jurassic period and has been found in the Tiouraren Formation, Niger. The type and only species is S. gautieri.
The Continental intercalaire, sometimes referred to as the Continental intercalaire Formation, is a term applied to Cretaceous strata in Northern Africa. It is the largest single stratum found in Africa to date, being between 30 and 800 metres thick in some places. Fossils, including dinosaurs, have been recovered from this formation. The Continental intercalaire stretches from Algeria, Tunisia and Niger in the west to Egypt and Sudan in the east.
The Tiourarén Formation is a geological formation in the Agadez Region of Niger whose strata were originally thought to be Early Cretaceous. However, re-interpretation of the sediments showed that they are probably Middle or Late Jurassic (Bathonian-Oxfordian) in age. Other works suggested it reaches the Barremian. It is the uppermost unit of the Irhazer Group. Dinosaur remains & other vertebrates are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. Originally part of the "Argiles de l'Ihrazer", the Tiouaren Formation primarily comprises reddish to purple siltstones with occasional marls, limestones, and scarce channel sandstones.
The Farak Formation is a geological formation in Niger, central Africa.
The Kem Kem Group is a geological group in the Kem Kem region of eastern Morocco, whose strata date back to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Its strata are subdivided into two geological formations, with the lower Ifezouane Formation and the upper Aoufous Formation used for the strata on the eastern side of the Atlas Mountains (Tinghir), with the Gara Sbaa Formation and Douira Formation used in the southern Tafilalt region. It is exposed on an escarpment along the Algeria–Morocco border.
The Elrhaz Formation is a geological formation in Niger, West Africa.
The In Beceten Formation, also Beceten or Ibecten is a Coniacian to Santonian geologic formation in the Iullemmeden Basin of Niger. It has yielded a diverse fauna and some angiosperms. Among others, it has yielded polypterifoms, urodeles, anurans, and turtles. Dinosaur remains are among the other fossils that have been recovered from the formation, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus. The lithology primarily consists of clays, fine limestones and sandy clays.
The Irhazer Shale or Irhazer II Formation is a Middle Jurassic geologic formation of the Irhazer Group in the Agadez Region of Niger. Fossil ornithopod tracks have been reported from the formation. The dinosaur Spinophorosaurus is known from the formation.