La Gara Samani: Late/Upper Albian - Early/Lower Cenomanian, Algeria
collected by C. Grenot & R. Vernet; Benyoucef 1970, 2020

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
unclassified
Lepidotes sp. Agassiz 1832
    = Adrianaichthys sp.
Benyoucef et al. 2022
Ceratodus humei Priem 1914
Gabani et al. 2016
    = cf. Lavocatodus humei
Benyoucef et al. 2022
Dipnoi - Ceratodontidae
Ceratodus protopteroides Tabaste 1963
Gabani et al. 2016
Dipnomorpha - Arganodontidae
Ceratodus tiguidiensis Tabaste 1963
recombined as Arganodus tiguidiensis
Dipnomorpha - Neoceratodontidae
Ceratodus africanus Haug 1905
recombined as Neoceratodus africanus
Coelacanthimorpha - Coelacanthiformes - Mawsoniidae
? Mawsonia sp. Mawson and Woodward 1907
    = Mawsoniidae indet. Schultze 1993
Benyoucef et al. 2022
Reptilia - Testudines
Testudines indet. Batsch 1788
    = Pleurodira indet. Cope 1865
Benyoucef et al. 2022
Reptilia - Testudines - Araripemydidae
Araripemydidae indet. Price 1973
Benyoucef et al. 2022
Reptilia - Spinosauridae
Spinosaurus marrocanus Russell 1996
Taquet and Russell 1998 5 specimens
synonym of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus
MNHN SAM 124–128
Reptilia
Theropoda informal indet. B Marsh 1881
small form
    = Coelurosauria indet. Huene 1914
Taquet 1977
Reptilia - Carcharodontosauridae
Theropoda informal indet. A Marsh 1881
large form
    = Carnosauria indet. Huene 1920
Taquet 1977
    = Carcharodontosaurus sp. Stromer 1931
Benyoucef et al. 2022
Reptilia
Sauropoda indet. Marsh 1878
    = Titanosauriformes indet. Salgado et al. 1997
Benyoucef et al. 2022
Mesosuchia indet. Huxley 1875
1 individual
skull; prob. same genus as at In Abangarit but not Sarcosuchus
    = Elosuchus cherifiensis Lavocat 1955
de Lapparent de Broin 2002
MNHN SAM 129
    = Elosuchus broinae n. sp. Meunier and Larsson 2016
Meunier and Larsson 2016
SAM 129 - type
Crocodylia indet. (Owen 1842)
    = Hamadasuchus cf. rebouli Buffetaut 1994
Pochat-Cottilloux et al. 2023
MNHN-SAM 136
Cladistia - Polypteriformes - Polypteridae
Bawitius sp. Grandstaff et al. 2012
Benyoucef et al. 2022
ganoid scales
Actinopteri - Amiiformes - Amiidae
Calamopleurus africanus
Benyoucef et al. 2022
Actinopteri - Lepisosteiformes - Obaichthyidae
Obaichthys africanus
Benyoucef et al. 2022
Chondrichthyes - Rajiformes - Sclerorhynchidae
Onchopristis numidus (Haug 1905)
Chondrichthyes - Hybodontiformes - Distobatidae
Distobatidae indet. Werner 1989
Benyoucef et al. 2022
dorsal spine morphotype (orig. described as "Asteracanthus aegyptiacus")
Chondrichthyes - Hybodontiformes - Hybodontidae
? Hybodus sp. Agassiz 1834
    = Tribodus sp. Brito and Ferreira 1989
Benyoucef et al. 2022
see common names

Geography
Country:Algeria State/province:Adrar
Coordinates: 29.7° North, 1.9° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:14.6° North, 0.7° East
Basis of coordinate:based on nearby landmark
Altitude:434 meters
Geographic resolution:small collection
Time
Period:Cretaceous
Key time interval:Late/Upper Albian - Early/Lower Cenomanian
Age range of interval:106.20000 - 93.90000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:Gara Samani Member:Samani Vertebrate-Rich Sand
Stratigraphic resolution:group of beds
Stratigraphy comments: fossils are from several beds, below the Cenomanian Tademaït Sandstone ("infra-Cenomanian"), formerly the "Continental Intercalaire"
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:"cross stratification",red,yellow argillaceous sandstone
Includes fossils?Y
Environment:coarse channel fill
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Preservation of anatomical detail:good
Associated major elements:some
Disassociated major elements:many
Disassociated minor elements:many
Fragmentation:frequent
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:selective quarrying,surface (float),surface (in situ),mechanical,field collection
Reason for describing collection:general faunal/floral analysis
Museum repositories:MNHN
Collectors:C. Grenot & R. Vernet; Benyoucef Collection dates:1970, 2020s
Metadata
Database number:59578
Authorizer:M. Carrano, P. Mannion Enterer:M. Carrano, P. Mannion
Modifier:M. Carrano Research group:vertebrate
Created:2006-04-04 07:51:01 Last modified:2023-07-14 15:27:18
Access level:the public Released:2006-04-04 07:51:01
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
17062.ETE F. de Broin, C. Grenot, and R. Vernet. 1971. Sur la découverte d’un nouveau gisement de Vertébrés dans le Continental Intercalaire saharien: la Gara Samani (Algérie) [On the discovery of a new vertebrate locality in the Saharan Continental Intercalaire: Gara Samani]. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences à Paris, Série D 272:1219-1221 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]

Secondary references:

80641 M. Benyoucef, E. Läng, L. Cavin, K. Mebarki, M. Adaci and M. Bensalah. 2015. Overabundance of piscivorous dinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae) in the mid-Cretaceous of North Africa: the Algerian dilemma. Cretaceous Research 55:44-55 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
85289 M. Benyoucef, A. Pérez-García, M. Bendella, F. Ortega, R. Vullo, I. Bouchemia, and B. Ferré. 2022. The “mid”-Cretaceous (Lower Cenomanian) continental vertebrates of Gara Samani, Algeria. Sedimentological framework and palaeodiversity. Frontiers in Earth Science 10:927059:1-19 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
82271 M. Bessedik, M. Mahboubi, C. Mammeri and L. Belkebir. 2020. Les restes de dinosaures et leurs traces en Algérie [The remains of dinosaurs and their tracks in Algeria]. Mémoire du service géologique de l’Algérie 21:19-28 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
34429ETE F. de Lapparent de Broin. 2002. Elosuchus, a new genus of crocodile from the Lower Cretaceous of the north of Africa. Comptes Rendus Palevol 1:275-285 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
82692 A. Gabani, C. Mammeri, M. Adaci, M. Bensalah, and M. Mahboubi. 2016. Le Crétacé continental à vertébrés de la bordure sud du plateau de Tinhert: découvertes paléontologiques et considérations stratigraphiques [The continental Cretaceous vertebrates of the southern border of the Tinhert Plateau: paleontological discoveries and stratigraphic considerations]. Mémoire du service géologique de l’Algérie 19:39-61 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
82457 N. Ibrahim, P. C. Sereno, D. J. Varricchio, D. M. Martill, D. B. Dutheil, D. M. Unwin, L. Baidder, H. C. E. Larsson, S. Zouhri and A. Kaoukaya. 2020. Geology and paleontology of the Upper Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of eastern Morocco. Zookeys 928:1-216 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
70734 J. Le Loeuff, E. Läng, L. Cavin and E. Buffetaut. 2012. Between Tendaguru and Bahariya: on the age of the Early Cretaceous dinosaur sites from the Continental Intercalaire and other African formations. Journal of Stratigraphy 36(2):486-502 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
70817 M. Mahboubi, M. Bessedik, L. Belkebir, M. Adaci, H. Hebib, M. Bensalah, C. Mammeri, B. Mansour, and M. E. H. Mansouri. 2007. Première découverte d’empreintes de pas de dinosaures dans le Crétacé inférieur de la region d’El Bayadh (Algérie) [First discovery of dinosaur footprints in the Lower Cretaceous of the El Bayadh region (Algeria)]. Bulletin du Service Géologique National 18(2):127-139 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
60254 L. M. V. Meunier and H. C. E. Larsson. 2016. Revision and phylogenetic affinities of Elosuchus (Crocodyliformes). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 179(1):169-200 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
84644 Y. Pochat-Cottilloux, V. Perrier, and R. Amiot, J., and E. Martin. 2023. A peirosaurid mandible from the Albian–Cenomanian (Lower Cretaceous) of Algeria and the taxonomic content of Hamadasuchus (Crocodylomorpha, Peirosauridae). Papers in Palaeontology 9(2):e1485 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
83707 P. C. Sereno, N. P. Myhrvold, D. M. Henderson, F. E. FIsh, D. Vidal, S. L. Baumgart, T. M. Keillor, K. K. Formoso, and L. L. Conroy. 2022. Spinosaurus is not an aquatic dinosaur. Elife 11:e80092:1-44 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
68574 P. Taquet. 1977. Les découvertes récentes de Dinosaures du Jurassique et du Crétacé en Afrique, au Proche et Moyen-Orient et en Inde [Recent discoveries of dinosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous in Africa, the Near and Middle East, and India]. Mémoire Hors Serie—Société Géologique de France 8:325-330 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
70903 P. Taquet. 2010. The dinosaurs of Maghreb: the history of their discovery. Historical Biology 22(1–3):88-99 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
13036ETE P. Taquet and D. A. Russell. 1998. New data on spinosaurid dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of the Sahara. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences à Paris, Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes 327:347-353 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]