Jebel Boulouha tracksite (Cretaceous of Tunisia)

Where: Tataouine, Tunisia (32.9° N, 10.3° E: paleocoordinates 16.0° N, 8.8° E)

• coordinate stated in text

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Neolobites medeninensis ammonoid zone, Kerker Member (Zebbag Formation), Late/Upper Cenomanian (99.6 - 93.5 Ma)

• 15 m below the top of the Kerker Member, several layers with tracks

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: lagoonal or restricted shallow subtidal; fine-grained, dolomitic, yellow sandstone and limestone

• Arid tidal flat environment
• Mammal tracks in a "light to yellowish, fine-grained and biolaminated sandstone, showing early dolomitization and birds eye structures in thin section." Bird tracks in "a laterally persistent layer of finely laminated limestone"

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: trace

Collected in 2004, 2010–2011

• Field data presented in this study were collected between February 2010 and March 2011. A mold of the two trackswasmade using SILICAL 110 silicone rubber. A fiberglass cast of the mold was also produced and deposited at the Museo Geologico Giovanni Capellini in Bologna (Italy) (accession number MGGC 21855).

Primary reference: M. Contessi. 2013. First report of mammal-like tracks from the Cretaceous of North Africa (Tunisia). Cretaceous Research 42(1):48-54 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion/M. Carrano]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 140887: authorized by Philip Mannion, entered by Philip Mannion on 18.03.2013

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

unclassified
  -
Mammalia
  -
Mammalia indet. Linnaeus 1758 mammal
Small (less than 3 cm long), robust (short and relatively large), pentadactyl and semi-digitigrade manus and pes impressions of a quadrupedal trackmaker
Reptilia
 Theropoda -
Theropoda indet. theropod
Numerous, 30 cm long, tridactyl footprints
Aves
  - Koreanaornipodidae
Koreanaornis sp. Kim 1969 bird
Two superimposed footprints (epirelief) and one isolated footprint preserved on a stromatolitic surface
Bivalvia
  -
Bivalvia indet. Linnaeus 1758 clam