Niveau des Innocents, Gadoufaoua: Aptian, Niger
collected by P. Taquet 1965, 1970, 1972–1973

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Reptilia
Ouranosaurus nigeriensis Taquet 1972
Taquet 1976
Reptilia - Iguanodontidae
Iguanodontidae indet. Bonaparte 1850
Taquet 1976
"Iguanodontidé trapu"
Reptilia - Dryosauridae
Ornithopoda indet. Marsh 1881
Taquet 1976 1 specimen
MNHN GDF 332, femur
    = Valdosaurus nigeriensis n. sp. Galton and Taquet 1982
Galton and Taquet 1982
recombined as Elrhazosaurus nigeriensis
Reptilia - Spinosauridae
Spinosauridae indet. Stromer 1915
Taquet 1976 3 specimens
GDF 365, 366, neural arch
    = Baryonychidae indet. Charig and Milner 1986
Charig and Milner 1990
    = Cristatusaurus lapparenti n. gen., n. sp. Taquet and Russell 1998
Taquet and Russell 1998
nomen dubium belonging to Baryonychinae
Reptilia
Rebbachisaurus sp. Lavocat 1954
2 individuals
    = Titanosauridae indet. Lydekker 1885
Taquet 1970
small sauropod, ?Dicraeosaurinae
    = Dicraeosaurinae indet. Janensch 1929
Taquet 1977
    = Nigersaurus taqueti Sereno et al. 1999
Lefebvre et al. 2023
Sarcosuchus imperator de Broin and Taquet 1966
2 individuals
Reptilia - Testudines
Pelomedusidae indet. Cope 1868
Taquet 1976 3 specimens
    = Platycheloides cf. nyasae Haughton 1928
de Broin 1980
GDF 800-801
    = Francemys gadoufaouaensis n. gen., n. sp. Pérez-García 2019
Pérez-García 2019
Holotype. The shell MNHN.F GDF 801, and many other referred specimens
Teneremys lapparenti de Broin 1980
de Broin 1980 1 specimen
GDF 819
Coelacanthimorpha - Coelacanthiformes - Mawsoniidae
Taquet 1976 1 individual
skull
    = Mawsonia tegamensis n. sp. Wenz 1975
Wenz 1975
Actinopteri - Lepisosteiformes
Pliodetes nigeriensis n. gen., n. sp. Wenz 1999
Wenz 1999 21 specimens
MNHN-GDF 1275: Referred specimens - MNHN GDF-1274 to 1281, GD-1285-1309
Coniferales
Protophyllocladoxylon chudeaui
Taquet 1976
unclassified
Paradoxopteris stromeri Hirmer 1927
Taquet 1970
see common names

Geography
Country:Niger State/province:Agadez
Coordinates: 16.5° North, 9.2° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:2.8° North, 4.5° East
Basis of coordinate:stated in text
Altitude:500 meters
Geographic resolution:outcrop
Time
Period:Cretaceous Epoch:Early/Lower Cretaceous
Stage:Aptian 10 m.y. bin:Cretaceous 3
Key time interval:Aptian
Age range of interval:121.40000 - 113.00000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Geological group:Tegama Formation:Elrhaz
Local section:Gadoufaoua Local bed:GAD 5
Stratigraphic resolution:bed
Stratigraphy comments: "niveau des innocents" within the El Rhaz Formation
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology: not reported
Environment:terrestrial indet.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Preservation of anatomical detail:good
Disassociated major elements:all
Fragmentation:frequent
Encrustation:none
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:selective quarrying,surface (in situ),field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Museum repositories:MNHN
Collectors:P. Taquet Collection dates:1965, 1970, 1972–1973
Metadata
Database number:37200
Authorizer:M. Carrano, E. Vlachos Enterer:M. Carrano, E. Vlachos
Modifier:M. Carrano Research group:vertebrate
Created:2004-03-04 12:30:24 Last modified:2019-04-18 10:23:51
Access level:the public Released:2004-03-04 12:30:24
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
68572. P. Taquet. 1967. Découvertes paléontologiques récentes dans le Nord du Niger [Recent paleontological discoveries in the north of Niger]. Colloques Internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 163:415-418 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]

Secondary references:

11816ETE A. J. Charig and A. C. Milner. 1990. The systematic position of Baryonyx walkeri, in the light of Gauthier's reclassification of the Theropoda. In K. Carpenter and P. J. Currie (eds.), Dinosaur Systematics: Perspectives and Approaches 127-140 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
65744 F. de Broin. 1980. Les tortues de Gadoufaoua (Aptien du Niger); aperçu sur la Paléobiogéographie des Pelomedusidae (Pleurodira). Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France 139:39-46 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]
12770ETE P. M. Galton and P. Taquet. 1982. Valdosaurus, a hypsilophodontid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Europe and Africa. Géobios 15(2):147-159 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/J. Alroy]
85593 R. Lefebvre, R. Allain, and A. Houssaye. 2023. What’s inside a sauropod limb? First three-dimensional investigation of the limb long bone microanatomy of a sauropod dinosaur, Nigersaurus taqueti (Neosauropoda, Rebbachisauridae), and implications for the weight-bearing function. Palaeontology [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
69186 A. Pérez-García. 2019. The African Aptian Francemys gadoufaouaensis gen. et sp. nov.: new data on the early diversification of Pelomedusoides (Testudines, Pleurodira) in northern Gondwana. Cretaceous Research 102:112-126 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos/P. Mannion]
17065ETE P. Taquet. 1970. Sur le gisement de Dinosauriens et de Crocodiliens de Gadoufaoua (République du Niger) [On the dinosaur and crocodilian locality of Gadoufaoua (Republic of Niger)]. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences à Paris, Série D 271:38-40 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
25315ETE P. Taquet. 1976. Géologie et Paléontologie du Gisement de Gadoufaoua (Aptien du Niger) [Geology and Paleontology of the Gadoufaoua Locality (Aptian of Niger)]. Cahiers de Paléontologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris 1-191 [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]
79045% 24160P. Taquet. 1984. Une curieuse spécialisation du crane de certains Dinosaures carnivores du Crétacé: le museau long et etroit des Spinosauridés [A curious specialization of the skull of some Cretaceous carnivorous dinosaurs: the long and narrow snout of spinosaurids]. Comptes Rendus des Seances de l'Academie des Sciences, Série 2 299(5):217-222 [M. Carrano/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]
36961ETE S. Wenz. 1975. Un nouveau Coelacanthidé du Crétacé inférieur du Niger, remarques sur la fusion des os dermiques [A new coelacanth from the Lower Cretaceous of Niger, remarks on fusion of the dermal bones]. Colloques Internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, 1973. Problèmes actuels de Paléontologie (Évolution des Vertébrés). Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 218:175-190 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
45777 S. Wenz. 1999. Pliodetes nigeriensis, gen. nov. et. sp. nov., a new semionotid fish from the Lower Cretaceous of Gadoufaoua (Niger Republic): phylogenetic comments. In G. Arratia & H.-P. Schultz (ed.), Mesozoic Fishes 2—Systematics and Fossil Record 107-120 [M. Bell/M. Bell/M. Carrano]