Also known as Agoult
Where: Morocco (30.5° N, 4.8° W: paleocoordinates 17.8° N, 4.8° W)
• coordinate stated in text
• outcrop-level geographic resolution
When: Akrabou Formation, Late/Upper Cenomanian (99.6 - 93.5 Ma)
• There are no calcareous fossils in the Gara Sbaa Lagerstätte and, consequently, it has proved difficult to establish the precise age of the deposit. The underlying Kem Kem beds, in this region resting on folded Palaeozoic strata, has been dated as Albian or Cenomanian on account of its vertebrate remains. However, over most of the outcrop the vertebrate-bearing part of the Kem Kem beds is overlain by a series of variegated mudstones, thin sandstones and evaporites for which there is no age determination. These mudstones pass up into marls and shelly limestones and, at Gara Sbaa, into the fossiliferous laminated limestone described here. The marls and shelly limestones yield abundant examples of Ilymatogyra cf. africana, a bivalve that usually indicates a mid to early Late Cenomanian age (Ettachfini and Andreu, 2004; Dhondt and Jaillard, 2005). In the Goulmima region of southern Morocco laterally equivalent carbonates of the Akrabou Formation have been dated as Late Cenomanian to Turonian on account of their marine benthic and planktonic foraminiferan assemblages (Ettachfini and Andreu, 2004). It is highly likely that the Gara Sbaa Lagerstätte is of Late Cenomanian or Early Turonian age but because there are no strata overlying the laminites, a minimum age cannot be determined at this locality.
•Previously under Gara Sbaa member of the Akrabou Formation, but the Gara Sbaa unit is now considered a Formation, and is older than the Akrabou Formation (see Ibrahim et al. 2020)
• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution
Environment/lithology: lagoonal or restricted shallow subtidal; lithified, dolomitic lime mudstone
Size class: macrofossils
Preservation: mold/impression, soft parts
Collection methods: Repository: Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano, Italy (MSNM)
Primary reference: A. Garassino, A. De Angeli, and G. Pasini. 2008. New decapod assemblage from the Upper Creaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) of Gara Sbaa, southeastern Morocco. Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano 149(1):37-67 [C. Schweitzer/E. Johnson/M. Clapham]more details
Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis
PaleoDB collection 127539: authorized by Carrie Schweitzer, entered by Evaline Johnson on 17.05.2012, edited by Matthew Clapham
Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)
Taxonomic list
Crinoidea | |
Comatulida indet. Clark 1908 Feather star | |
Actinopteri | |
Amiiformes indet. Hay 1929 bowfin | |
Pycnodontidae indet. Agassiz 1833 | |
aff. Rhynchodercetis sp. Arambourg 1943 | |
Insecta | |
Homoptera indet. Leach 1815 true bug | |
Xiphosura | |
Mesolimulus tafraoutensis n. sp.
Mesolimulus tafraoutensis n. sp. Lamsdell et al. 2020 horseshoe crab | |
Malacostraca | |
Telamonocarcinus cf. gambalatus Larghi 2004 crab | |
Corazzatocarcinus cf. hadjoulae Roger 1946 crab | |
Paragalathea africana n. sp.
Paragalathea africana n. sp. Garassino et al. 2008 decapod | |
Galathea sahariana n. sp., Cretagalathea exigua n. gen. n. sp.
Galathea sahariana n. sp. Garassino et al. 2008 decapod
Cretagalathea exigua n. gen. n. sp. Garassino et al. 2008 decapod | |
Glypheoidea indet. Winckler 1882 decapod | |
Glyphea garasbaaensis n. sp.
Glyphea garasbaaensis n. sp. Garassino et al. 2008 decapod | |
Caridea indet. Dana 1852 shrimp | |
Penaeidae indet. Rafinesque 1815 decapod
Cretapenaeus berberus Garassino et al. 2006 decapod | |
Isopoda indet. Latreille 1817 isopod |