Anoual Formation

The Anoual Formation is a geological formation in the High Atlas of Morocco. It is early Bathonian in age. It consists of two members. The lower member is several hundred metres thick, and consists largely of mudstone with lens beds of cross bedded sandstone, with thin intercalations of limestone that was deposited in a continental setting. The upper member is several tens of metres thick and consists of limestone deposited in a shallow marine setting. The formation is fossiliferous, with several of the limestone intercalations yielding a diverse fauna, including amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs and mammals.^[1]

Anoual Formation
Stratigraphic range: Early Bathonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Anoual Syncline
Sub-units	Lower Member, Upper Member
Underlies	Unconformity with Ksar Metlili Formation
Overlies	Pholadomya Marls and Limestones Formation
Thickness	~500 m (1,600 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Mudstone (Lower), limestone (Upper)
Other	Sandstone, limestone, marl (Lower)
Location
Coordinates	32.5°N 3.1°W / 32.5; -3.1
Approximate paleocoordinates	26.9°N 0.9°E / 26.9; 0.9
Region	Figuig Province
Country	Morocco
Extent	High Atlas
Type section
Named for	Anoual
Anoual Formation (Morocco)

Paleobiota

Fish

Fish
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Arganodus	Indeterminate			Isolated tooth plates	Lungfish
Lepidotes/Scheenstia	Indeterminate			Isolated teeth and scales
cf. Ionoscopiformes	Indeterminate			Rhomboidal scales
Mawsoniidae	Indeterminate			Skull bones including a parasphenoid	Coelacanth
Osteoglossiformes	Indeterminate			Squamules (small scales)

Amphibians

Amphibians
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Albanerpetontidae	Indeterminate			Incomplete premaxilla and incomplete frontal
? Caudata	Indeterminate			Fragment of a dentary
? Lissamphibia	Indeterminate			Fragment of a maxilla

Turtles

Turtles
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Testudinata	Indeterminate			Shell fragments	Probably 4 distinct taxa

Lepidosaurs

Lepidosaurs
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
cf. Parviraptor	Indeterminate			Four vertebral centra
Rhynchocephalia	Indeterminate			One fragment of dentary bearing two incomplete teeth, one fragment of maxilla bearing the bases of two teeth.
Scincomorpha	Indeterminate			A fragment of bone bearing teeth, potentially a fragment of bone bearing one complete tooth
Squamata	Indeterminate			Incomplete maxilla, incomplete dorsal vertebra, one proximal part of femur

Choristoderes

Choristoderes
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Choristodera	Indeterminate			Fragmentary dentary, centrum of an anterior caudal vertebra, possibly centrum of a dorsal vertebra	Similar to Cteniogenys

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Theropoda	Indeterminate			Several teeth
Ornithischia	Indeterminate			Tooth	Similar to Alocodon
cf. Stegosauria	Indeterminate			Poorly preserved tooth

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Rhamphorhynchidae	Indeterminate			Teeth
Pterosauria	Indeterminate			Teeth	Similar to wukongopterids

Crocodyliformes

Crocodyliformes
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
cf. Theriosuchus	Indeterminate			Teeth
Atoposauridae	Indeterminate			Teeth
Teleosauridae	Indeterminate			Teeth
Thalattosuchia	Indeterminate			Teeth, various skeletal elements probably belonging to a single individual

Mammals

Mammals
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Amphitheriidae	Indeterminate			Fragment of right dentary of a juvenile individual with an anterior lower premolar and a replacing posterior premolar, fragment of an edentulous right dentary, probably middle-posterior part.	Both fragments probably belong to the same taxon
Dryolestida	Indeterminate			Fragment of a tooth bearing one cusp and one root

References

1. Haddoumi, Hamid; Allain, Ronan; Meslouh, Said; Metais, Grégoire; Monbaron, Michel; Pons, Denise; Rage, Jean-Claude; Vullo, Romain; Zouhri, Samir (January 2016). "Guelb el Ahmar (Bathonian, Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco): First continental flora and fauna including mammals from the Middle Jurassic of Africa" (PDF). Gondwana Research. 29 (1): 290–319. Bibcode:2016GondR..29..290H. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2014.12.004. ISSN 1342-937X.