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An Early Cretaceous vertebrate assemblage from the Cabao Formation of NW Libya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2010

JEAN LE LOEUFF ,
EDDY MÉTAIS ,
DIDIER B. DUTHEIL ,
JEAN LOUP RUBINO ,
ERIC BUFFETAUT ,
FRANÇOIS LAFONT ,
LIONEL CAVIN ,
FABRICE MOREAU ,
HAIYAN TONG  and
CHRISTIAN BLANPIED
...Show all authors
JEAN LE LOEUFF*
Affiliation:
Musée des dinosaures, 11260 Espéraza, France
EDDY MÉTAIS
Affiliation:
Total, Tour Coupole, Paris la Défense, France
DIDIER B. DUTHEIL
Affiliation:
15, passage du Buisson Saint-Louis, 75010 Paris, France
JEAN LOUP RUBINO
Affiliation:
Total, CSTJF, Avenue Larribau, 64018 Pau Cedex, France
ERIC BUFFETAUT
Affiliation:
CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France
FRANÇOIS LAFONT
Affiliation:
Total, CSTJF, Avenue Larribau, 64018 Pau Cedex, France
LIONEL CAVIN
Affiliation:
Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, 1 route de Malagnou, 1208 Genève, Switzerland
FABRICE MOREAU
Affiliation:
Domaine de la Grange, 37110 Les Hermites, France
HAIYAN TONG
Affiliation:
30 rue Carnot, 94270 Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France
CHRISTIAN BLANPIED
Affiliation:
Total, Tour Coupole, Paris la Défense, France
ALI SBETA
Affiliation:
Geology Department, University of El Fateh, Tripoli, Libya
*
*Author for correspondence: jeanleloeuff@yahoo.fr
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Abstract

Fossil vertebrates from the Cabao Formation discovered in the area of Nalut in northwestern Libya include the hybodont shark Priohybodus, the crocodilian Sarcosuchus, an abelisaurid, a baryonichine spinosaurid and a large sauropod with spatulate teeth. The Cabao Formation may be Hauterivian to Barremian in age, although an earlier Berriasian to Valanginian age cannot be excluded. Its dinosaur assemblage is reminiscent of that of the El Rhaz and Tiouraren formations of Niger and strongly differs from both the Cenomanian assemblages of Morocco and Egypt and the Late Aptian to Albian fauna of Tunisia. Fossil vertebrates may be an important tool to establish the stratigraphical framework of the poorly dated Early Cretaceous continental deposits of Africa.

Keywords

Early CretaceousLibyadinosaursbiostratigraphy
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 147 , Issue 5 , September 2010 , pp. 750 - 759
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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