Anoual Formation

Anoual Formation
Geological formation
Period	Bathonian
Prilithology	Mudstone (Lower), limestone (Upper)
Otherlithology	Sandstone, limestone, marl (Lower)
Unitof	Anoual Syncline
Subunits	Lower Member, Upper Member
Underlies	Unconformity with Ksar Metlili Formation
Overlies	Pholadomya Marls and Limestones Formation
Thickness	~500 m (1,600 ft)
Coordinates	32.5°N 3.1°W
Paleocoordinates	26.9°N 0.9°E
Region	Figuig Province
Country	Morocco
Extent	High Atlas
Namedfor	Anoual

The Anoual Formation is a geological formation in the High Atlas of Morocco. It is early Bathonian in age. It consists of two members. The lower member is several hundred metres thick, and consists largely of mudstone with lens beds of cross bedded sandstone, with thin intercalations of limestone that was deposited in a freshwater continental setting, likely lacustrine or palustrine, with small marine influences.^[1] The upper member is several tens of metres thick and consists of limestone deposited in a shallow marine setting. The formation is fossiliferous, with several of the limestone intercalations yielding a diverse fauna, including amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs and mammals.^[2]

Paleobiota

Brachiopoda

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Burmirhynchia^[3]	B. gr. termierae-athiaensis	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated shells	A brachiopod of the family Tetrarhynchiidae
Kallirhynchia^[3]	K. oranensis	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated shells	A brachiopod of the family Tetrarhynchiidae

Crustacea

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes
Asciocythere^[3]	A. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the family Schulerideidae.
Bythocypris^[3]	B. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the family Bythocyprididae
Asciocythere^[3]	A. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the family Schulerideidae.
Cypridea^[3]	C. cf. postelongata	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the family Cyprididae
Cypris^[3]	C. spp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the family Cyprididae
Darwinula^[3]	D. magna D. cf. leguminella	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the family Darwinulidae
Fabanella^[3]	F. bathonica F. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the order Podocopida
Fastigocythere^[3]	F. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the order Podocopida
Klieana^[1]	K. levis	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the order Cytherideidae
Kinkelinella^[1]	K. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater/Brackish Ostracod of the family Protocytheridae
Mantelliana^[1]	M. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the family Cyprididae
Metacypris^[3]	M. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater/Brackish Ostracod of the family Limnocytheridae
Paracypris^[3]	P. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the family Candonidae. Dominant marine taxon
Pneumatocythere^[3]	P.? juglandiformis	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the order Podocopida
Praeschuleridea^[3]	P. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the family Candonidae.
Procytheridea^[1]	P. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the order Podocopida
Scabriculocypris^[1]	S. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the family Cyprididae
Theriosynoecum^[1]	T. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater/Brackish Ostracod of the family Limnocytheridae

Mollusca

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes
Lymnaeidae^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Isolated shells	Freshwater snails
Nerineidae^[1]	Indeterminate	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated shells	Marine snails
Planorbidae^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Isolated shells	Freshwater snails
Provalvata^[1]	P. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated shells	Freshwater snail of the family Provalvatidae
Valvatidae^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Isolated shells	Freshwater snails

Fish

Abundant osteichthyan ichthyoliths are known. An isolated spine displaying characters seen in extant cypriniform or siluriform fishes has been recovered, alternatively can belong to a member of Myriacanthidae.^[2]

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes
Arganodus^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Isolated tooth plates	Lungfish
Lepidotes/Scheenstia^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Isolated teeth and scales	Lepidotidae bony fish
cf. Ionoscopiformes^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Rhomboidal scales	Tentatively assigned to Ophiopsidae
Mawsoniidae^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Skull bones including a parasphenoid	Coelacanth
Osteoglossiformes^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Squamules (small scales)	The oldest record of the group

Amphibians

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes
Albanerpetontidae^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Incomplete premaxilla and incomplete frontal	Likely represents a new taxon
Caudata?^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Fragment of a dentary
Lissamphibia?^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Fragment of a maxilla

Turtles

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes
Testudinata^[2]	"Morphotype 1"	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Fifty plate fragments	Similar to Solemydidae and Pleurosternidae turtles
	"Morphotype 2"	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Single neural plate	Plate slightly longer than wide
	"Morphotype 3"	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Multiple plates	By far the most abundant, maybe a larger taxon with smooth plates
	"Morphotype 4"	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Two costal plates	Similar to Araripemys and some Trionychidae

Lepidosaurs

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes
Parviraptor^[2]	Cf.P.sp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Four vertebral centra	Squamatan, previously identified as a stem-snake
Rhynchocephalia^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	One fragment of dentary bearing two incomplete teeth; one fragment of maxilla bearing the bases of two teeth.	Similar to the co-regional but younger genus Tingitana, but also to Clevosaurus.
Scincomorpha^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	A fragment of bone bearing teeth; potentially a fragment of bone bearing one complete tooth	Squamatan
Squamata^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Incomplete maxilla, incomplete dorsal vertebra, one proximal part of femur

Choristoderes

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Choristodera^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Fragmentary dentary, centrum of an anterior caudal vertebra, possibly centrum of a dorsal vertebra	Similar to Cteniogenys

Dinosaurs

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes
Ornithischia^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Tooth	Similar to Alocodon
cf.Stegosauria^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Poorly preserved tooth
Theropoda^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Several teeth

Pterosaurs

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Pterosauria^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Teeth	Similar to wukongopterids
Rhamphorhynchidae^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Teeth

Crocodyliformes

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes
Atoposauridae^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Teeth
Teleosauridae^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Teeth
Thalattosuchia^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Teeth, various skeletal elements probably belonging to a single individual
Theriosuchus^[2]	Cf.T. sp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Teeth	An Atoposaurid

Mammals

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Amphitheriidae^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Fragment of juvenile right dentary; fragment of an edentulous right dentary, probably middle-posterior part.	If true is the 1st Gondwanic member of the family
Cf.Dryolestida/Donodontidae^[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Fragment of a tooth bearing one cusp and one root	Similar to Donodon

Charophyta

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Aclistochara^[4]	A. africana	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Gyrogonites	A Characean algae of the family Characeae
Porochara^[3]	P. hians	Anoual	Upper Member	Oogonia	A characean algae of the family Porocharaceae

Palynology

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes
Alisporites^[2]	A. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Pollen	Affinities with the families Peltaspermaceae or Corystospermaceae
Araucariacites^[2]	A. australis	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Pollen	Affinities with Araucariaceae inside Coniferae.
Callialasporites^[2]	C. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Pollen	Affinities with Araucariaceae inside Coniferae.
Classopollis^[2]	C. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Pollen	Affinities with Cheirolepidiaceae inside Coniferae.
Cyathidites^[2]	C. sp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Spores	Affinities with the family Cyatheaceae inside Cyatheales. Arboreal Fern Spores
Cycadopites^[2]	C. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Pollen	Affinities with the Cycadopsida inside Cycadales. Pollen related with modern Cycas
Inaperturopollenites^[2]	I. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Pollen	Affinities with the Pinidae inside Coniferae.
Ischyosporites^[2]	I. cf. variegatus I. sp	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Spores	Affinities with Pteridopsida, likely derived from a member of Anemiaceae
Leptolepidites^[2]	L. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Spores	Affinities with the family Dennstaedtiaceae in the Polypodiales. Forest fern spores.
Pityosporites^[2]	P. sp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Upper Member	Pollen	Affinities with the Pinidae inside Coniferae.

Fossil Wood

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes
Agathoxylon^[2]	A. aff. sahariense	Guelb el Ahmar Oued Metlili	Upper Member	Fossil Wood	Conifer fossil wood of the family Araucariaceae
Metapodocarpoxylon^[2]	M. libanoticum	Guelb el Ahmar Oued Metlili	Upper Member	Fossil Wood	Conifer fossil wood of the family Podocarpaceae
Protopodocarpoxylon^[2]	P. subrochii P. teixeirae	Guelb el Ahmar Oued Metlili	Upper Member	Fossil Wood	Conifer fossil wood of the family Hirmeriellaceae
Phyllocladoxylon^[2]	P. atlasicum	Guelb el Ahmar Oued Metlili	Upper Member	Fossil Wood	Conifer fossil wood of the family Podocarpaceae

References

^ Haddoumi, Hamid; Charrière, André; Andreu, Bernard; Mojon, Pierre-Olivier (2008). "Les dépôts continentaux du Jurassique moyen au Crétacé inférieur dans le Haut Atlas oriental (Maroc) : paléoenvironnements successifs et signification paléogéographique". Carnets de Géologie / Notebooks on Geology. CG2008 (A06): 1–29.
^ Haddoumi, Hamid; Allain, Ronan; Meslouh, Said; Metais, Grégoire; Monbaron, Michel; Pons, Denise; Rage, Jean-Claude; Vullo, Romain; Zouhri, Samir (January 2016). "Guelb el Ahmar (Bathonian, Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco): First continental flora and fauna including mammals from the Middle Jurassic of Africa". Gondwana Research. 29 (1): 290–319. Bibcode:2016GondR..29..290H. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2014.12.004. ISSN 1342-937X
^ Haddoumi, Hamid; Aiméras, Yves; Bodergat, Anne-Marie; Charrière, André; Mangold, Charles; Benshili, Khadija (1998-07-01). "Âges et environnements des Couches rouges d'Anoual (Jurassique moyen et Crétacé inférieur, Haut-Atlas oriental, Maroc)". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences - Series IIA - Earth and Planetary Science. 327 (2): 127–133. doi:10.1016/S1251-8050(98)80043-8. ISSN 1251-8050
^ MOJON, Pierre-Olivier; HADDOUMI, Hamid; CHARRIÈRE, André (2009). "Nouvelles données sur les Charophytes et Ostracodes du Jurassique moyen-supérieur - Crétacé inférieur de l'Atlas marocain". Carnets de géologie (Notebooks on geology). ' (Mémoires). doi:10.4267/2042/29781. ISSN 1634-0744