Ksar Metlili (KM-B') (Jurassic to of Morocco)

Also known as Ksar Met-Lili

Where: Figuig, Morocco (32.7° N, 3.2° W: paleocoordinates 25.6° N, 1.6° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Ksar Metlili Formation, Late/Upper Tithonian to Late/Upper Tithonian (150.8 - 140.2 Ma)

• original Fm name "Couches Rouges". Localities KM-A1, A2, B', C, D1 and D2 are fossiliferous loci separated by a few metres in the same calcareous fossiliferous sandstone bed.

Environment/lithology: deltaic; lenticular, fine-grained, medium, red, calcareous sandstone

• The Ksar Metlili Formation was likely deposited in a river-dominated deltaic plain, close to the sea. All the vertebrate-bearing beds sampled in the various KM loci show this kind of transitional facies... The KM microvertebrate lens is intercalated between two marine horizons. There is a mixing of continental (wood, mammals, dinosaurs, etc.), brackish (bivalves) and undisputedly marine (echinoderms, coral, brachiopods, etc.) forms in this horizon, which suggests a near-shore, deltaic depositional environment, probably influenced by eustatic variations.
• The sedimentary facies of the Ksar Metlili Formation are similar to those of the continental lower beds of the Anoual Formation (fine to-medium-grained sandstones, overturned cross-stratifications, ripple marks, root traces).

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collected by Lasseron et al in 2010

Collection methods: bulk, chemical, sieve

Primary reference: M. Lasseron, R. Allain, E. Gheerbrant, H. Haddoumi, N.-E. Jalil, G. Métais, J.-C. Rage, R. Vullo, and S. Zouhri. 2019. New data on the microvertebrate fauna from the Upper Jurassic or lowest Cretaceous of Ksar Metlili (Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco). Geological Magazine 1-26 [T. Cleary/T. Cleary]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 204936: authorized by Terri Cleary, entered by Terri Cleary on 27.09.2019

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Lasseron et al (2019) mention the new material comprises 24,541 microvertebrate elements. Here I use the number of elements listed for each taxon, which are split between the specimen numbers listed (often 1000+ per specimen number). How these elements are split between specimens can be found in the supp info of Lasseron et al 2019.
Osteichthyes
 Dipnoi - Ptychoceratodontidae
cf. Ptychoceratodontidae indet. Martin 1982 lungfish
KM-B'-56, teeth
 Therapsida -
cf. Cynodontia "indet. morphotype 1" Owen 1861 cynodont
KM-B'-43-44, 98, single teeth
cf. Cynodontia "indet. morphotype 2" Owen 1861 cynodont
Not mentioned in supp, possibly KM-B'-99, which is marked as "Cynodontia".
Mammalia
  -
Mammalia indet. Linnaeus 1758 mammal
KM-B'-31-32, both single incisor teeth; 33-34, left dentary; 35, dentary; 38, right dentary; 50, mandibular fragment. Not mentioned in main text, from supp info.
 Theriamorpha -
? Dryolestoidea indet. Butler 1939 mammal
"or ?Eutriconodonta". KM-B'-7, tooth. Not mentioned in main text, from supp info.
 Theriamorpha - Dryolestidae
Dryolestidae indet. Marsh 1879 mammal
Probably the same as "Dryolestoidea" in the supplement. KM-B'-1, left lower molar; 37, teeth; 96-97, single left lower molars
 Dryolestida - Donodontidae
Donodon perscriptoris mammal
KM-B'-2, left lower molar; 11, right upper molar; 95, right upper molar
 Theriamorpha -
Hypomylos micros Sigogneau-Russell 1995 mammal
[no mention of specimen no.s in supp info]
Hypomylos phelizoni Sigogneau-Russell 1992 mammal
KM-B'-4, left lower molar; 9-10, single right lower molars
Tribotherium africanum Sigogneau-Russell 1991 mammal
KM-B'-5, right upper molar
 Symmetrodonta -
"Symmetrodonta" indet. symmetrodont
KM-B'-36, teeth. Not mentioned in main text, from supp info.
 Eutriconodonta -
Eutriconodonta indet. Kermack et al. 1973 mammal
KM-B'-3, 6, single lower molars; 8, 30, single teeth
Osteichthyes
 Sauropsida -
Sauropsida indet. Huxley 1864 amniote
KM-B'-87, teeth
Reptilia
 Testudinata -
Testudinata indet. Oppel 1811 turtle
KM-B'-39, 41, osteoderms
 Squamata -
Squamata indet. squamates
KM-B'-28, dorsal vertebrae; 29, jaw fragment; 90, 92, single teeth
Tarratosaurus anoualensis Broschinksi and Sigogneau-Russell 1996 lizard
KM-B'-20, right dentary. Not mentioned in main text, from supp info.
Scincomorpha indet. Camp 1923 squamates
KM-B'-19, right dentary
 Eosuchia -
Sphenodontia indet. lepidosaur
KM-B'-14, dorsal vertebra
 Choristodera -
Choristodera indet. Cope 1876 choristodere
KM-B'-49, dorsal vertebrae
 Theropoda -
Theropoda indet. Marsh 1881 theropod
KM-B'-21, claw; KM-B'-23-25, teeth; 94, claw (ungual?)
Maniraptora indet. Gauthier 1986 maniraptoran
KM-B'-22, tooth. Not mentioned in main text, from supp info.
 Theropoda - Dromaeosauridae
Dromaeosauridae indet. Colbert and Russell 1969 maniraptoran
KM-B'-26, teeth. Not mentioned in main text, from supp info.
 Pterosauria -
Pterosauria indet. Kaup 1834 pterosaur
KM-B'-54-55, teeth
 Loricata -
Crocodylomorpha indet. Hay 1930 crocodilian
KM-B'-40, osteoderms; KM-B'-45, mandibular fragment; 46, 52, 91, all teeth
 Loricata - Atoposauridae
Atoposauridae indet. Gervais 1871 crocodilian
KM-B'-47, 48, teeth
cf. Theriosuchus indet. Owen 1878 crocodilian
KM-B'-42, premaxillary
 Loricata - Teleosauridae
Teleosauridae indet. Geoffroy 1831 marine crocodile
KM-B'-51, teeth; KM-B'-53, tooth
Amphibia
 Temnospondyli - Albanerpetontidae
Anoualerpeton unicus Gardner et al. 2003 tetrapod
KM-B'-12-13, left dentary
 Salientia -
Anura indet. Fischer von Waldheim 1813 frog
KM-B'-15, right ilium; 16, scapula; 17, dorsal vertebrae; 27, dorsal vertebrae of a hatchling or neotenic; 86, long bone fragments
 Salientia - Alytidae
cf. Alytidae indet. Fitzinger 1843 midwife toads
KM-B'-18, dorsal vertebrae
Osteichthyes
 Actinopterygii -
Actinopterygii indet. Cope 1887
KM-B'-62, 73-74, 80, scales; KM-B'-63, 67-68, 76-77, 79, all fin rays; 69, vertebrae; 81, mandibular fragments. Not mentioned in main text, from supp info.
Actinopteri
 Ginglymodi -
Ginglymodi indet. Cope 1871
KM-B'-58 and 60, 66, all ichthyoliths; KM-B'-59, 61, 64-65, 72, 84, all scales
 Teleostei -
? Siluriformes indet. catfish
"or ?Polypteriformes". KM-B'-57, fin spine
Osteoglossiformes indet. Berg 1940
KM-B'-89, teeth
Chondrichthyes
 Hybodontiformes - Hybodontidae
Egertonodus basanus Egerton 1845 elasmobranch