Grand Daoui, Lithoptila type specimen (Paleocene of Morocco)

Also known as Grand Daoui; Oued Zem

Where: Morocco (32.9° N, 6.6° W: paleocoordinates 26.1° N, 8.0° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Bed IIa Member, Thanetian (59.2 - 56.0 Ma)

• assigned to Bed IIa on the basis of associated selachians

Environment/lithology: coastal; lithified phosphorite

• "marine deposits of an epicontinental sea" that were laid down in "proximity of the shore"
• "phosphatic bed" and specimen is clearly lithified

Size class: macrofossils

Collection methods: "collected by local people... and sold to the Office Chérifien des Phosphates"

Primary reference: E. Bourdon, B. Bouya, and M. Iarochene. 2005. Earliest African neornithine bird: a new species of Prophaethontidae (Aves) from the Paleocene of Morocco. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25(1):157-170 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 86295: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 27.01.2009

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• "selachians [were] identified in the matrix"
Aves
 Phaethontiformes - Prophaethontidae
Lithoptila abdounensis n. gen. n. sp.
Lithoptila abdounensis n. gen. n. sp. Bourdon 2005 bird
Chondrichthyes
 Carcharhiniformes - Scyliorhinidae
Premontreia (Oxyscyllium) subulidens Arambourg 1952 cat shark
Foumtizia abdouni Noubhani and Cappetta 1997 cat shark
Abdounia africana Arambourg 1952 cat shark
 Myliobatiformes - Dasyatidae
Dasyatis ponsi Noubhani and Cappetta 1997 whiptail stingray