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So, lets figure out vertebrae from the Kem Kem beds. As many of you know the Kem Kem beds has a pretty enigmatic palaeo fauna. There is some literature about it, but not a whole lot. Some of it is behind a paywall and much information is pretty scattered. So I got this idea that maybe we could combine our knowledge and information to collectively get a better picture of which bone belongs to which animal, in this case, vertebrae. I know some of you have some fantastic specimens in your collections, if we combine these in this thread we might be able to see some patterns. We probably won't be able to put a genus or species name on each type, but perhaps assigning certain vertebrae to a morphotype might be possible. With that I encourage everyone that has any vertebrae from the Kem Kem beds to share photos of their specimens and post them here so we can use this thread as a sort of library as well as an ID thread that everyone can use to better ID their Kem Kem vertebrae. So please, share your photos! And it might help to number your specimens for easier reference. I will be updating this first post as new information arises with examples to make ID easier. Theropods Spinosaurids Spinosaurus aegyptiacus Spinosaurus is known for it's tall neural spines, which are pretty characteristic. Unlike Sigilmassasaurus, Spinosaurus does not have the ventral triangular rough plateau on the centra Spinosaurus mid cervical vertebra Spinosaurus dorsal, sacral and caudal vertebrae Caudal vertebrae Nearly complete tail from the neotype specimen of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis Sigilmassasaurus is a Spinosaurid that might be closely related to Baryonyx and Suchomimus. It differs from Spinosaurus in that it has a ventral keel on many vertebrae and a triangular rough plateau on the bottom back end. A is Sigilmassasaurus, B is Baryonyx Sigilmassasaurus cervical vertebrae From anterior to posterior Sigilmassasaurus dorsal vertebrae Indeterminate Spinosaurid vertebrae Not a whole lot has been published yet, some bones can probably not be ID'd on genus level. Spinosaurid caudal vertebrae Anterior caudal: From LordTrilobite's collection Mid-posterior caudal: From Paleoworld-101's collection Mid-posterior caudal: From LordTrilobite's collection This caudal vertebra is less tall and more pinched in the middle of the centrum than the one from Paleoworld-101's collection. Likely due to a slightly more posterior position. Mid-posterior caudal: From LordTrilobite's collection Carcharodontosaurids Due to an old paper Sigilmassasaurus vertebrae are sometimes misidentified as Carcharodontosaurid. These vertebrae should be identified on the basis of the original description by Stromer. Two species of Carcharodontosaurids are known from the Kem Kem beds at this time. Carcharodontosaurus saharicus and Sauroniops pachytholus. Carcharodontosaurid cervical vertebrae Deltadromeus agilis Anterior (left) and mid (right) caudals better examples needed Abelisauroids Indeterminate Abelisauroid distal caudal From LordTrilobite's collection Abelisaurid dorsal vertebrae From Troodon's collection Sauropods Rebbachisaurus garasbae Not a whole lot is known about this titanosaur, as only a few bones have been found. Notice that the vertebrae are very extensively pneumaticised. Rebbachisaurus dorsal vertebrae Sauropod mid caudal vertebra. Possibly Rebbachisaurid. Unnamed Titanosaurian mid caudal vertebra Crocodilomorphs more examples needed Kemkemia This crocodile is only known by a single posterior caudal vertebra. Kemkemia caudal vertebra Turtles examples needed Pterosaurs Azhdarchids Azhdarchid (probably Alanqa) posterior fragment cervical vertebra Azhdarchid Mid cervical vertebra Sources Spinosaurids https://peerj.com/articles/1323/?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_campaign=PeerJ_TrendMD_1&utm_medium=TrendMD http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144695 Sauropods Jeffrey A. Wilson & Ronan Allain (2015) Osteology of Rebbachisaurus garasbae Lavocat, 1954, a diplodocoid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the early Late Cretaceous–aged Kem Kem beds of southeastern Morocco, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 35:4, e1000701, DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2014.1000701 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304214496_Evidence_of_a_derived_titanosaurian_Dinosauria_Sauropoda_in_the_Kem_Kem_beds_of_Morocco_with_comments_on_sauropod_paleoecology_in_the_Cretaceous_of_Africa Kemkemia sisn.pagepress.org/index.php/nhs/article/viewFile/nhs.2012.119/32 Pterosaurs https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefossilforum.com%2Fapplications%2Fcore%2Finterface%2Ffile%2Fattachment.php%3Fid%3D432009&fname=journal.pone.0010875.PDF&pdf=true https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/RIPS/article/view/5967

Hi, i am a newbie. I have found this piece in the rubble looks like it eroded from the mountain, the geology is mainly early to mid Cretaceous, looks like some sort of bone, possibly a piece of vertebrae concave with three extrusions, the piece is about 10cm wide

Hello guys I collected this Rugosa coral from the Upper Devonian of Charouine, located in the Ougarta ranges, Algeria. I wonder if someone can help ID the genus and species properly! I appreciate your efforts.

Hello guys Found this Brachiopod in the Upper Devonian of Marhouma, Ougarta ranges, Algeria. any idea on the ID? p.s~ Sorry for the low quality pic!

Hello! can't figure out what kind of fossil, maybe brachiopod or ostrea bivalve sticked on silex nodule, upper cenomanian, Laghouat-city, Algeria, Any idea? thank you.

Allegedly, this was found in the Algerian Sahara. I couldn't find an article verifying that claim, only assertions via popular social media platforms like Reddit and Twitter. Everything from Spinosaurid to whale has been suggested. Anyone know what it might be? And if anyone has an article with more info, I'd appreciate the read

Hello everybody! I need some help to ID a fossil wood from lower creataceous( likely Barremian) of Laghouat, Algeria. From many readings i know that softwood is made of cells named "tracheids" with special pits( bordered pits) and "rays" also with special cross fiels pits.The main reference, that i dont have , is "IAWA softwood microscopic features" . Infortunately there is no special study about the fossil trees of this particular area of Algeria. I took some photos on just traumatic sections ( i can't make "thin sections") using my old monocular microscope (x10 with oculars x5,x10, x15). and my camera Canon ixus160. I can see tracheids with "monoseriate and biseriate bordered pits" and many smaller pits are visible in "cross field area" . I think that theses features could match with an "Araucarian fossil wood" but is it really? i hope that some members specially who are familiar with softwood anatomy could help. Thank you.( sorry for my weird english!).

Hello! i have found this rock laying on the surface of a dry saharian river. It is a dark blue hard limestone with some fossils in it. This facies is known here as between upper oxfordian and lower Kimmerijian. I think it's a kind of coral. Is it really? i have put some "vaseline codex" on the rock to make it more bright. Sorry for my poor english. Site: Laghouat, Algeria, north africa.

Hello everybody! here is a rock clast wtih many fossils. Lower kimmeridjian Laghouat, Algeria. Some of them look strange as bivalves. may be rudists?

Hello everybody! Is it possible to say based on theses photos if it's a slice of an ammonite or gastropod? Hard limestone, upper Jurassic, Laghouat Algeria. Thank you.

Hello every body. I'm from Algeria, a north-west african country, living in laghouat , a city of south edge of saharian atlas mountains. Profession: doctor. Maried. Main interest: fossils and stratigraphy of saharian atlas of Algeria. Thank you for accepting me. Here is a photo of an example of Laghouat mountains.