Moroccan fossil trade

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Flexicalymene ouzregui, a common Ordovician trilobite found in Morocco Flexicalymene-ouzregui-lateral.jpg
Flexicalymene ouzregui , a common Ordovician trilobite found in Morocco

The Moroccan fossil trade is the large industry surrounding the excavation, preparation and international sale of fossils from Morocco. Morocco contains some of the world's richest fossil sites and has seen international interest from fossil collectors since the early 20th century. As interest in collecting fossils grew in the late 20th century, the Moroccan fossil trade grew into a lucrative industry of its own. More than 50,000 Moroccans earn their living in mining, trading or exporting fossils and the industry itself is worth more than $40 million annually. The booming industry is so big that some commentators have referred to it as "fossil capitalism" or a "trilobite economy".

Contents

The fossil industry has been the source of various concerns. Some commentators worry that the industrial-scale excavations and insufficient governmental regulations are damaging Morocco's paleontological heritage. The export of fossils from Morocco is technically illegal, though the relevant laws are often not sufficient, or not applied in practice. There are also concerns for the safety and welfare of the fossil diggers themselves, who are often paid very little (considerably less than exporters and middlemen) and suffer through difficult working conditions . Scientific concerns have also been raised in that fossils may end up in the marketplace rather than available for scientific research, and that important fossils may be destroyed or neglected and lost due to being deemed to not be of commercial interest. The issue is made more complicated due to there for many of the fossil diggers themselves not being any other jobs available and that the fossil industry ensures an income, however meager.

In addition to its economical impacts, Morocco's fossil trade has had some positive scientific impact. Many important scientific discoveries have been made based on Moroccan fossils. Without the markets and international trade network supporting the fossil diggers and preparators in Morocco, it is unlikely that as many new species would have been uncovered.

History and economic impact

International interest in Moroccan fossils began in the early 20th century, with the French geologist Louis Gentil discovering trilobite fossils near Casablanca in 1916. [1] Through the 20th century, local populations exploited Morocco's significant quantities of fossils by selling excavated specimens to collectors and tourists. The sale of fossils complemented the wages of local miners, and also provided a source of income for Moroccans in marginalized communities. [2] Although the growth of the fossil market was slow at first, the industry grew rapidly in the late 1980s and early 1990s as fossil collecting became increasingly common, especially among young people. [1] From the 2000s onwards, the Moroccan fossil trade has turned into a lucrative industry of its own. [2] More than 50,000 Moroccans earned a living in the mineral and/or fossil mining and export trade, [1] [3] and the fossil industry is worth more than $40 million annually. [1] A 2018 investigation by the French newspaper Le Monde uncovered that some Moroccan fossil exporters earn as much as $100 000 each year. [2]

In some regions of Morocco, such as Tafilalt, there are few jobs outside of the fossil industry. The Moroccan fossil industry is so big that some, such as American geologist Douglas Shakel, have described the booming industry as a "trilobite economy". [1] Some commentators, such as New York Times correspondent Lawrence Osborne in a 2000 article, have also used the term "fossil capitalism". [4] Some mining businesses, such as the Moroccan company GSMC, combine traditional mining for raw materials, such as lead, copper and zinc, with the harvest and preparing of mineral and fossil specimens. [1] The Moroccan fossil trade is a worldwide enterprise, with the largest importing market being the United States. [1] [4] Other large markets include Europe [1] (particularly Germany), [4] Australia [1] and Japan. [1] [4] Most of the profit in the industry is earned by retailers and middleman, rather than the preppers and diggers in Morocco, [1] who usually get paid very little. [4] Economically, the industry does not only benefit Morocco, but also importers in Europe, America and Asia. [1]

Legality

Though Morocco's Ministry of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development must authorize any archaeological excavations, Moroccan laws do allow artisanal mining by locals, which is exploited by the fossil industry. Technically, international trade of any fossil specimens is prohibited in Moroccan law, given that exports of "objects of anthological or archaeological interest" is illegal. Additionally, Morocco is one of the signatories of the 1970 'UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property'. [2] However, the laws are often insufficient or not applied in practice. [2] [5] According to a 2019 article by the organization ENACT Africa, it is possible that authorities are complicit, given the large amount of fossils that pass through Moroccan customs. [2] There is little international regard for these legislations either, given that many Moroccan fossils can be traced to museums worldwide. [5]

The existence of a large organized and technically illegal system could pose a threat to Morocco's development and security, as it points to loopholes in Morocco's export control, raising the possibility that other forms of trafficking may be occurring in the country. Additionally, the system also implies people in marginalized regions of the country being exploited, as the fossil diggers themselves typically earn very little compared to the exporters and middlemen. [2] The issue is made more complicated given that many locals rely on the fossil trade to make a living, [5] [6] given the lack of other available jobs. [4]

New fossil legislation was proposed by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development in 2019, with a draft decree suggesting the establishment of three different legally recognized categories of fossils: 'regular' specimens that can be excavated and sold without the need of authorization, quota-regulated specimens that require authorization and unique specimens that can only leave the country if loaned for scientific purposes. [2]

Fossils and excavation

Polished slab of orthocerid (straight-shelled) nautiloid cephalopod fossils from Morocco. Orthoceras from Marocco.jpg
Polished slab of orthocerid (straight-shelled) nautiloid cephalopod fossils from Morocco.

Mining for fossils in Morocco is a labor-intense and delicate process since fossils, intended to be sold as scientific curiosities, or in cases even as natural works of art, have to be retrieved from the ground undamaged. Typically, teams of people, many of them local Berber tribesmen with deep regional roots, work in small trenches and pits with picks, chisels and shovels. [1] Each fossil digger, numbering in the thousands, typically has their own spot, and leaves their equipment there each night. [4] After having been extracted from the earth, locals clean and prepare the fossils for sale. Typically, middlemen gather in larger towns, such as Erfoud, to purchase bulks of fossil and mineral specimens and export them across the world. [1]

The most common and famous finds are trilobites and the nautiloid cephalopod including the orthocerid order of extinct Silurian-Devonian orthoceratoid cephalopods. Nautiloid cephalopods are often found in huge numbers in black limestone, and their fossils, often polished along with the surrounding stone, are sold either as scientific curiosities, or fashioned into various ornamental shapes. Moroccan fossils embedded within the black limestone is in cases fashioned into furniture, such as ornamental sinks, bathtubs, or coffee tables. [1]

Trilobites

Moroccan trilobites are sought-after by both amateur paleontologists and museums. Hundreds of trilobite species, many not found elsewhere, have been found in Morocco, from between 570 and 245 million years ago. In total, the country may be home to 300–400 different species. The pricing for fossil trilobites depend on several factors, including the condition of the fossils, the rarity of the species and the time spent on excavation and preparation. Common species may be sold for just one or two US dollars, but rare high-quality specimens have been sold for as much as $20,000 or more. [1] The surge in collecting Moroccan trilobites might be attributable to the sheer diversity found, with the market never stagnating due to new forms being found each year. The large number of trilobites found and exported also ensures that collectors can compare and cross-reference their specimens. Compared to collecting high-end items such as impressionist paintings, the fossil industry is also a relatively new frontier, with an as of yet not exhausted supply. [4]

Paradoxides trilobite fossil from Morocco BLW Trilobite (Paradoxides sp.).jpg
Paradoxides trilobite fossil from Morocco

Most of the trilobite specimens from Morocco that end up in the international market have some amount of restoration, given that they are rarely found in perfect condition. Many trilobite fossils are broken due to excavators cracking open rocks, and are then glued back together before being sold. Sometimes, trilobites can be entirely fake, made from plaster or other materials, [1] such as local muds or car putty. [7] Fake trilobites are often well-made, molded with molds made from actual fossil specimens, [7] and they can thus be difficult to tell from real fossils, [1] sometimes even fooling trilobite experts. [7] [8] Making fake fossils is not illegal in Morocco. Passing fakes of as real is illegal, but the act itself being legal creates an overall legal grey area which allows the practice to endure. [4]

Sometimes, craftsmen combine different broken trilobites together to create "chimera" specimens that never actually lived. [7] In some cases, fakers may also start out with real specimens but add on features, such as an extended nose or spikes, to make it appear more unusual. [4] At times fossil specimens are partially real and partially fake, for instance fossils where the heads and tails are real, but the body has been fashioned out of plastic. [7] Trilobites of the genus Paradoxides have been noted as particularly susceptible to having had work done on them, given that many original specimens are very fragile. [8] It is not uncommon for Moroccan trilobite specimens to be about 20–25 % 'restored', with the rest being real fossil material. [4] It is also not uncommon to combine real, or partially real, specimens into composites, with fossils found at different locations being 'mis-matched' closely together onto a single stone plate, termed 'trilobite pizzas' by collectors. [4]

The authenticity of a fossil trilobite can usually be determined by examining it for air bubbles using a UV flashlight. [7] According to the American Museum of Natural History, fossil collectors should in general not be worried about the authenticity of fossil trilobite specimens, given that a sharp eye and knowledge of trilobite morphology can eliminate most fakes. According to the museum, "The fact remains, that nowhere else on Planet Earth are more spectacular and fascinating legitimate trilobite specimens coming to light than in Morocco. For a collector or scientist to turn their backs on such a proven treasure trove of material would appear to be both foolish and unnecessary." [8]

Dinosaur fossils

Tooth of Spinosaurus from the Kem Kem Group in Morocco Tooth of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus.jpg
Tooth of Spinosaurus from the Kem Kem Group in Morocco

Dinosaur fossils are relatively common in Morocco compared to in many other countries, especially in the Cretaceous-age Kem Kem beds. Fossils in good condition, such as more complete specimens, are extraordinarily rare given that most of the Cretaceous fossil sites were once tumultuous river beds. Nearly all fossils are isolated bone fragments or teeth. The abundance of teeth partly results from the fact that dinosaurs continually lost and replaced teeth throughout their lives, similar to modern crocodiles. Thousands of dinosaur fossils are found in and exported from Morocco every year. Among Moroccan dinosaur teeth, teeth of the theropod dinosaur Spinosaurus are especially common, likely resulting from Spinosaurus spending most of their time in the rivers, rather than along the river banks. In one fossil site examined by paleontologists in 2014, Spinosaurus teeth accounted for nearly half of all the fossil teeth recovered, and about a sixth of the total recovered fossils. Teeth of other dinosaurs are considerably more rare, with the fossil Spinosaurus teeth of one site outnumbering the teeth of other dinosaurs by about 150 to one. [9]

Impact on scientific research

Some experts worry that the Moroccan fossil industry "exploits Morocco's paleontogical heritage". [1] [2] The fossil beds around the desert town of Erfoud in Morocco have been termed the "largest open air fossil museum in the world" due to the abundance of finds, [5] being one of the world's richest fossil sites, [4] but they are threatened today due to excessive excavations and insufficient regulations owing to the illegal fossil trade. The fossil industry may thus be causing irreversible damage to local paleontological heritage and conservation efforts. [5] In addition to legal and scientific concerns, the Moroccan fossil industry also has welfare concerns, given that fossil diggers work for hours in the hot Sahara sun, breathing in potentially dangerous dust and risking accidents from the common rock collapses. [6]

In some cases, rare fossil specimens end up in marketplaces instead of becoming available for scientific study. [5] For instance, fossils likely belonging to the rare mosasaur species Pluridenswalkeri, otherwise unknown in Morocco, have been found in the Gantour Basin but scientists have been unable to study them on account of all known specimens having been sold on the black market. [10] Another cause of concern is that associated fossil material, such as partial skeletons, are often overlooked by commercial collectors since they do not employ field jackets or lab preparation. As such, fossil bones that would have been significant if associated together may be disassociated over the course of excavation and sold individually. [11] Because of poor collecting practices, many fossils are damaged and there is often no information recorded on stratigraphy, sedimentology or location. This is not a universal rule, however, as some Moroccan collectors do record relevant information. [12]

Fossils that are believed by the Moroccan fossil diggers to not hold any commercial value are often neglected and become unrecoverable. [12] In combination with collectorship biases in museums (museums tend to prioritize collecting rare and impressive specimens and tend to not build large collections of common specimens), collectorship biases among Moroccan fossil collectors have in cases resulted in erroneous paleoecological interpretations, such as the prevalent idea that the Kem Kem beds preserve an unusually large number of predatory dinosaurs, with a skewed predator-prey ratio. [13]

On the positive side, paleontologists have made many important discoveries based on the fossils uncovered in Morocco, such as the identification of hundreds of new species of trilobites and other animals. Without the markets and industries that support the diggers and preparators in Morocco, a large number of these new species would likely never have been uncovered. In cases, new species have been named in honor of people in the fossil industry, such as the trilobite Asteropyge tahiri and the artiopod Eoduslia brahimtahiri , both named after Brahim Tahiri, a Moroccan fossil exporter and the owner of the only private fossil museum in Morocco. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeoraptor</span> Faked dinosaur discovery in China

"Archaeoraptor" is the informal generic name for a fossil chimera from China in an article published in National Geographic magazine in 1999. The magazine claimed that the fossil was a "missing link" between birds and terrestrial theropod dinosaurs. Even before this publication, there had been severe doubts about the fossil's authenticity. A further scientific study showed it to be a forgery constructed from rearranged pieces of real fossils from different species. Zhou et al. found that the head and upper body belong to a specimen of the primitive fossil bird Yanornis. A 2002 study found that the tail belongs to a small winged dromaeosaur, Microraptor, named in 2000. The legs and feet belong to an as-yet-unknown-animal.

<i>Spinosaurus</i> Genus of spinosaurid dinosaur

Spinosaurus is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what now is North Africa during the Cenomanian to upper Turonian stages of the Late Cretaceous period, about 99 to 93.5 million years ago. The genus was known first from Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described by German palaeontologist Ernst Stromer in 1915. The original remains were destroyed in World War II, but additional material came to light in the early 21st century. It is unclear whether one or two species are represented in the fossils reported in the scientific literature. The best known species is S. aegyptiacus from Egypt, although a potential second species, S. maroccanus, has been recovered from Morocco. The contemporary spinosaurid genus Sigilmassasaurus has also been synonymized by some authors with S. aegyptiacus, though other researchers propose it to be a distinct taxon. Another possible junior synonym is Oxalaia from the Alcântara Formation in Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fossil collecting</span> Collecting fossils to study, collect or sell

Fossil collecting is the collection of fossils for scientific study, hobby, or profit. Fossil collecting, as practiced by amateurs, is the predecessor of modern paleontology and many still collect fossils and study fossils as amateurs. Professionals and amateurs alike collect fossils for their scientific value. A commercial trade in fossils has also long existed, with some of this being practised illegally.

<i>Irritator</i> Spinosaurid theropod dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous Period

Irritator is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now Brazil during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous Period, about 113 to 110 million years ago. It is known from a nearly complete skull found in the Romualdo Formation of the Araripe Basin. Fossil dealers had acquired this skull and sold it to the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart. In 1996, the specimen became the holotype of the type species Irritator challengeri. The genus name comes from the word "irritation", reflecting the feelings of paleontologists who found the skull had been heavily damaged and altered by the collectors. The species name is a homage to the fictional character Professor Challenger from Arthur Conan Doyle's novels.

<i>Baryonyx</i> Genus of theropod dinosaurs

Baryonyx is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous period, about 130–125 million years ago. The first skeleton was discovered in 1983 in the Smokejack Clay Pit, of Surrey, England, in sediments of the Weald Clay Formation, and became the holotype specimen of Baryonyx walkeri, named by palaeontologists Alan J. Charig and Angela C. Milner in 1986. The generic name, Baryonyx, means "heavy claw" and alludes to the animal's very large claw on the first finger; the specific name, walkeri, refers to its discoverer, amateur fossil collector William J. Walker. The holotype specimen is one of the most complete theropod skeletons from the UK, and its discovery attracted media attention. Specimens later discovered in other parts of the United Kingdom and Iberia have also been assigned to the genus, though many have since been moved to new genera.

<i>Carcharodontosaurus</i> Genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur from the Cretaceous period

Carcharodontosaurus is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in North Africa from about 99 to 94 million years ago during the Cenomanian stage of the Late 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinosauridae</span> Family of dinosaurs

Spinosauridae is a clade or family of tetanuran theropod dinosaurs comprising ten to seventeen known genera. Spinosaurid fossils have been recovered worldwide, including Africa, Europe, South America and Asia. Their remains have generally been attributed to the Early to Mid Cretaceous.

<i>Bahariasaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Bahariasaurus is an enigmatic genus of large theropod dinosaur. Bahariasaurus 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.

<i>Deltadromeus</i> Theropod dinosaur genus from mid-Cretaceous Period

Deltadromeus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from Northern Africa. It had long, unusually slender hind limbs for its size, suggesting that it was a swift runner. The skull is not known. One fossil specimen of a single species has been described, found in the Kem Kem Beds, which date to the mid-Cretaceous Period, about 95 million years ago. It may be a junior synonym of the contemporary Bahariasaurus. The classification of Deltadromeus has been in flux since its original description. In 2016, a South American theropod known as Gualicho shinyae was found to possess many similarities with Deltadromeus. Depending on the phylogenetic position of Gualicho, Deltadromeus may have been a neovenatorid carnosaur, a tyrannosauroid, or a basal coelurosaur if its close relation to Gualicho is legitimate. Other studies have considered it a ceratosaurian, more specifically a member of the family Noasauridae.

<i>Rebbachisaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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.

<i>Siamosaurus</i> Potentially dubious genus of spinosaurid theropod dinosaur

Siamosaurus is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now known as China and Thailand during the Early Cretaceous period and is the first reported spinosaurid from Asia. It is confidently known only from tooth fossils; the first were found in the Sao Khua Formation, with more teeth later recovered from the younger Khok Kruat Formation. The only species Siamosaurus suteethorni, whose name honours Thai palaeontologist Varavudh Suteethorn, was formally described in 1986. In 2009, four teeth from China previously attributed to a pliosaur—under the species "Sinopliosaurus" fusuiensis—were identified as those of a spinosaurid, possibly Siamosaurus. It is yet to be determined if two partial spinosaurid skeletons from Thailand and an isolated tooth from Japan also belong to Siamosaurus.

<i>Cristatusaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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.

<i>Sigilmassasaurus</i> Spinosaurid theropod dinosaur genus from Cretaceous Period

Sigilmassasaurus is an extremely 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum</span> Natural history museum in Fukui Prefecture, Japan

The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, located in Katsuyama, Fukui, Japan, is one of the leading dinosaur museums in Asia that is renowned for its exhibits of fossil specimens of dinosaurs and paleontological research. It is sited in the Nagaoyama Park near the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry that the Lower Cretaceous Kitadani Formation of the Tetori Group is cropped out and a large number of dinosaur remains including Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis and Fukuisaurus tetoriensis are found and excavated.

Kemkemia is a genus of probable crocodyliforms living in the Cretaceous, described from a single fossil that was recovered in 1999 from Morocco by an Italian team searching for fossil invertebrates. The fossil of Kemkemia dates from the Cenomanian age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fossil trade</span> Trade involving fossils

The fossil trade is the purchase and sale of fossils. This is at times done illegally with stolen fossils, and important scientific specimens are lost each year. The trade is lucrative, and many celebrities collect fossils.

<i>Oxalaia</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Oxalaia is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now the Northeast Region of Brazil during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, sometime between 100.5 and 93.9 million years ago. Its only known fossils were found in 1999 on Cajual Island in the rocks of the Alcântara Formation, which is known for its abundance of fragmentary, isolated fossil specimens. The remains of Oxalaia were described in 2011 by Brazilian palaeontologist Alexander Kellner and colleagues, who assigned the specimens to a new genus containing one species, Oxalaia quilombensis. The species name refers to the Brazilian quilombo settlements. Oxalaia quilombensis is the eighth officially named theropod species from Brazil and the largest carnivorous dinosaur discovered there. It is closely related to the African genus Spinosaurus, and/or may be a junior synonym of this taxon.

The Aoufous Formation is a geological formation that contains some of the vertebrate assemblage of the Kem Kem Group, of Late Cretaceous date. Two other formations comprise the Kem Kem beds: the underlying Ifezouane Formation and the overlying Akrabou Formation.

<i>Atlanticopristis</i> Extinct genus of cartilaginous fishes

Atlanticopristis is an extinct genus of sclerorhynchid that lived during the Middle Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of what is now the Northeast Region of Brazil, between 100.5 and 93.9 million years ago. Fourteen fossil teeth from Atlanticopristis were found in the Alcântara Formation, and referred to the closely related Onchopristis in 2007; a redescription in 2008 by Brazilian paleontologists Manuel Medeiros and Agostinha Pereira assigned it to a new genus containing one species, Atlanticopristis equatorialis.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Sicree, Andrew A. (2009). "Saudi Aramco World : Morocco's Trilobite Economy". archive.aramcoworld.com. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ben Yahia, Jihane (2019-06-07). "Morocco's surging trade in fossils". ENACT Africa. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  3. ↑ Gutiérrez-Marco, Juan Carlos; García-Bellido, Diego C. (2018-01-01). "The international fossil trade from the Paleozoic of the Anti-Atlas, Morocco". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 485: 69–96. doi:10.1144/SP485.1. ISSN   0305-8719. S2CID   134667216.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Osborne, Lawrence (2000-10-29). "The Fossil Frenzy". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Neuendorf, Henri (2014-10-28). "Illegal Trading Degrades World's Largest Fossil Museum". Artnet News. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  6. 1 2 Apte, Poornima (2012). "Morocco's Fossil Industry: Background information when reading The Forgiven". BookBrowse. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Fake Trilobites". American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  8. 1 2 3 "A Moroccan Trilobite Sojourn". American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  9. ↑ Greshko, Michael (2020-09-23). "Case for 'river monster' Spinosaurus strengthened by new fossil teeth". National Geographic. Archived from the original on June 13, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  10. ↑ Bardet, Nathalie; Houssaye, Alexandra; Vincent, Peggy; Pereda Suberbiola, Xabier; Amaghzaz, Mbarek; Jourani, Essaid; Meslouh, Saïd (2015). "Mosasaurids (Squamata) from the Maastrichtian Phosphates of Morocco: Biodiversity, palaeobiogeography and palaeoecology based on tooth morphoguilds". Gondwana Research. 27 (3): 1068–1078. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2014.08.014. ISSN   1342-937X.
  11. ↑ Ibrahim, Nizar; Sereno, Paul C.; Varricchio, David J.; Martill, David M.; Dutheil, Didier B.; Unwin, David M.; Baidder, Lahssen; Larsson, Hans C. E.; Zouhri, Samir; Kaoukaya, Abdelhadi (2020-04-21). "Geology and paleontology of the Upper Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of eastern Morocco". ZooKeys (928): 1–216. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.928.47517 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   7188693 . PMID   32362741.
  12. 1 2 Zitouni, Slimane; Laurent, Christian; Dyke, Gareth; Jalil, Nour-Eddine (2019-04-02). "An abelisaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) ilium from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of the Kem Kem beds, Morocco". PLOS ONE. 14 (4): e0214055. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214055 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   6445567 . PMID   30939139.
  13. ↑ Mcgowan, A.; Dyke, G. (2009). "A surfeit of theropods in the Moroccan Late Cretaceous? Comparing diversity estimates from field data and fossil shops". Geology. 37 (9): 843–846. doi:10.1130/G30188A.1. S2CID   38691413.
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