Wadi Moghra: MN 4, Egypt

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Reptilia - Ciconiiformes - Ciconiidae
Leptoptilos sp. Lesson 1831
Miller et al. 1997 1 specimen
Reptilia
Crocodilus lloydi n. sp. Fourtau 1918
recombined as Rimasuchus lloydi
CGM 15597 (incomplete cranium and mandible); topotype - NHMUK unnumbered (nearly complete skull)
Tomistoma dowsoni n. sp. Fourtau 1918
Gavialis sp. Oppel 1811
Reptilia - Testudines - Testudinidae
Namibchersus cf. namaquensis (Stromer 1926)
Zonneveld et al. 2021 1 specimen
Material.—DPC 6443, a fragment of the anterior plastron consisting of both epiplastra and the anterior end of the entoplastron
Reptilia - Testudines - Trionychidae
Trionyx senckenbergianus Reinach 1903
nomen dubium belonging to Trionychidae
Reptilia - Testudines - Podocnemididae
Mogharemys blanckenhorni n. gen., n. sp. (Dacque 1912)
Gaffney et al. 2011 1 specimen
BMNH R.8440, holotype skull
Podocnemis bramlyi n. sp. Fourtau 1918
nomen dubium belonging to Podocnemis
Podocnemis aegyptiaca Andrews 1900
recombined as Apeshemys aegyptiaca
Latentemys plowdeni n. gen., n. sp. Gaffney et al. 2011
Gaffney et al. 2011
BMNH R.11998; type horizon of Moghara Fm. conjectural
Reptilia - Varanidae
Varanus sp. Merrem 1820
Georgalis et al. 2020
Mammalia - Proboscidea - Choerolophodontidae
Afrochoerodon kisumuensis (Picford 2001)
Sanders and Miller 2002 2 specimens
Mammalia - Proboscidea - Mammutidae
Mastodon spenceri n. sp. Fourtau 1918
Zygolophodon aegyptensis n. sp. Sanders and Miller 2002
Sanders and Miller 2002 4 specimens
Mammalia - Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae
cf. Archaeobelodon sp. Tassy 1984
Sanders and Miller 2002 1 specimen
Mastodon angustidens Cuvier 1806
recombined as Tetrabelodon angustidens
var. libyca
Gomphotherium angustidens Burmeister 1837
Sanders and Miller 2002 9 specimens
subspecies libycum
Mammalia - Creodonta
Buhakia moghraensis n. gen., n. sp. Morlo et al. 2007
Morlo et al. 2007 1 specimen
Hyainailouros fortaui n. sp.
Morlo et al. 2007 1 specimen
"Hyaena sp." of Fourtau 1920
Megistotherium osteothlastes Savage 1973
Morlo et al. 2007 2 specimens
Mammalia - Carnivora - Hyaenidae
Hyaena sp. Brisson 1762
Mammalia - Carnivora - Amphicyonidae
Cynelos sp. Jourdan 1862
Morlo et al. 2007 1 specimen
said to be new
    = Cynelos anubisi n. sp. Morlo and Miller 2019
Morlo and Miller 2019
recombined as Mogharacyon anubisi
Amphicyon giganteus Schinz 1825
Morlo and Miller 2019
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Aceratherium sp. Kaup 1834
Teleoceras snowi n. sp. Fourtau 1918
Mammalia - Cetacea
Delphinus vanzelleri n. sp. Fourtau 1918
nomen dubium belonging to Odontoceti
Mammalia - Cetacea - Eurhinodelphinidae
Cyrtodelphis aff. sulcatus (Gervais 1853)
recombined as Schizodelphis sulcatus
Mammalia - Anthracotheriidae
Masritherium depereti n. gen., n. sp. Fourtau 1918
Brachyodus africanus
Brachyodus moneyi n. sp. Fourtau 1918
Mammalia - Climacoceratidae
Prolibytherium magnieri Arambourg 1961
Pickford et al. 2001
Mammalia - Primates - Victoriapithecidae
Prohylobates tandyi n. gen., n. sp. Fourtau 1918
Mammalia - Primates - Hominidae
? Dryopithecus mogharensis n. sp. Fourtau 1918
Actinopteri - Centropomidae
Lates sp. Cuvier 1828
Fortau 1920
Actinopteri - Siluriformes - Mochokidae
Synodontis sp. Cuvier 1816
Chondrichthyes - Heterodontiformes - Heterodontidae
Sphyrna prisca Agassiz 1843
recombined as Cestracion prisca
Chondrichthyes - Rhinopristiformes - Pristidae
Pristis sp. Linck 1790
Chondrichthyes - Myliobatiformes - Myliobatidae
Myliobatis aff. angustidens
Myliobatis aff. meridionalis
Myliobatis sp. Cuvier 1816
see common names

Geography
Country:Egypt
Coordinates: 30.4° North, 28.8° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:29.5° North, 27.8° East
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Geographic resolution:local area
Time
Period:Neogene Epoch:Miocene
Stage:Burdigalian 10 m.y. bin:Cenozoic 5
Key time interval:MN 4
Age range of interval:16.90000 - 15.97000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:Moghara
Stratigraphic resolution:formation
Stratigraphy comments: type section of formation is "about 230 m" (Morlo et al. 2007)
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:current ripples,hummocky CS,medium,ferruginous sandstone
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: "The fluviatile sands alternate with near-shore marine deposits comprised of sands and shales... Sands are generally fine to medium-grained, fairly well-sorted, and primarily quartzose in composition. Current structures such as cross-lamination and ripples are frequent as are pebble-sized clasts of both quartz and flint. Mud clasts line paleoerosion surfaces (channel scours), which are commonly ferruginous, associated with petrified wood, and are the source of the fossil vertebrates." (Morlo et al. 2007)
Environment:marginal marine indet.
Geology comments: formation is "a clastic sequence with a fluvio-marine fauna... formed in a marginal marine coastal realm at the distal reaches of a large fluviatile system trending from southeast to northwest, combined with episodic marine transgressions" (Morlo et al. 2007)
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body,original phosphate
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Collection method comments: original collections described by Fourtau (1918, 1920), with newly collected material described starting with Miller (1996)
Taxonomic list comments:list consists of specimens from Wadi Moghra that are not assigned to numbered localities
Metadata
Also known as:Wadi Moghara
Database number:53970
Authorizer:M. Uhen, J. Alroy, P. Holroyd, E. Vlachos Enterer:M. Uhen, E. Vlachos, P. Holroyd, J. Alroy
Modifier:M. Uhen Research group:vertebrate
Created:2005-09-20 07:11:02 Last modified:2012-12-06 09:20:12
Access level:the public Released:2005-09-20 07:11:02
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:

26934. R. Fourtau. 1918. Contribution à l'étude des vertébrés miocènes de l'Égypte 1-109 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen/M. Uhen]

Secondary references:

43778 C. Arambourg. 1963. Continental vertebrate faunas of the Tertiary of North Africa. In F. C. Howell, F. Bourliere (eds.), African Ecology and Human Evolution 55-64 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen]
26787 R. Fortau. 1920. Contribution a l'etude des vertebres Miocenes de l'Egypt. Egypt Survey Department, Cairo 1-121 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen/P. Mannion]
59461 E. S. Gaffney, P. A. Meylan, R. C. Wood, E. Simons, and D. De Almeida Campos. 2011. Evolution of the side-necked turtles: the family Podocnemididae. American Museum Novitates 350:1-237 [D. Nicholson/D. Nicholson/P. Mannion]
72533 G. L. Georgalis, M. K. Abdel Gawad, S. M. Hassan, A. N. El-Barkooky, and M. A. Hamdan. 2020. Oldest co-occurrence of Varanus and Python from Africa—first record of squamates from the early Miocene of Moghra Formation, Western Desert, Egypt. PeerJ 8(e9092):1-26 [P. Holroyd/P. Holroyd]
33106 P. D. Gingerich. 2010. Cetacea. In L. Werdelin & W. J. Sanders (ed.), Cenozoic Mammals of Africa 873-899 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen]
43809 E. R. Miller, D. T. Rasmussen, and E. L. Simons. 1997. Fossil storks (Ciconiidae) from the Late Eocene and Early Miocene of Egypt. The Ostrich 68(1):23-26 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen]
23705 M. Morlo, E. R. Miller, and A. N. El-Barkooky. 2007. Creodonta and Carnivora from Wadi Moghra, Egypt. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(1):145-159 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
71096 M. Morlo and E. R. Miller. 2019. New Amphicyonids (Mammalia, Carnivora) from Moghra, Early Miocene, Egypt. Geodiversitas 41(1):731-745 [P. Holroyd/P. Holroyd]
14561 M. Pickford, Y. S. Attia, and M. S. Abd Ghany. 2001. Discovery of Prolibytherium magnieri Arambourg, 1961 (Artiodactyla, Climacoceratidae) in Egypt. Geodiversitas 23(4):647-652 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen/M. Uhen]
14562 W. J. Sanders and E. R. Miller. 2002. New proboscideans from the early Miocene of Wadi Mogahara, Egypt. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22(2):388-404 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen/M. Uhen]
78416 J. - P. Zonneveld, Μ Κ AbdelGawad, and E. R. Miller. 2021. Ectoparasite borings, mesoparasite borings, and scavenging traces in early Miocene turtle and tortoise shell: Moghra Formation, Wadi Moghra, Egypt. Journal of Paleontology 1-19 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]