Occurrence of Mosasaurus hoffmannii Mantell, 1829 (Squamata, Mosasauridae) in the Maastrichtian Phosphates of Morocco

[Praefectus]

@pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon and I wrote a paper on Mosasaurus hoffmannii fossils from the Moroccan Phosphates. 

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357836567_Occurrence_of_Mosasaurus_hoffmannii_Mantell_1829_Squamata_Mosasauridae_in_the_Maastrichtian_Phosphates_of_Morocco

 

https://www.aaps-journal.org/pdf/JPS.C.22.0001.pdf

 

Abstract: Marginal tooth crowns from the hypercarnivorous marine reptile Mosasaurus hoffmannii Mantell, 1829 are reported for the first time from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) phosphates of Morocco. Fossilized remains of this species are previously known from Campanian and Maastrichtian outcrops in Europe, North America, and western Asia at a paleolatitudinal belt of 30-45°N. New fossil material originates from the Upper Couche III layer of the Oulad Abdoun Basin, south of Oued Zem, Morocco. The discovery of M. hoffmannii in Morocco extends its paleobiogeographic range south to 25°N and into the southern margin of the Mediterranean Tethys. 

 

Rempert, T.H., Vinkeles Melchers, A.P.M., Rempert, A.N., Haque, M.R.,

and Armstrong, A.R. (2022). Occurrence of Mosasaurus hoffmannii

Mantell, 1829 (Squamata, Mosasauridae) in the Maastrichtian

Phosphates of Morocco. The Journal of Paleontological Sciences, 10: 1-22.

 

It has been fun working on this project. Great to finally see it published. Many thanks to the Editorial Board of the Journal of Paleontological Sciences and Walter Stein and Dr. John Nudds for helpful review. 

 

Excavation zone in the Sidi Chennane phosphate quarry.

 

Lithostratigraphical units of the Sidi Chennane Phosphate Quarry; mosasaurid remains originate from the Upper Couche III layer. 

 

Mosasaurus hoffmannii Mantell, 1829, from the Moroccan phosphates. A. REMPC M0001, UCIII (Maastrichtian) layer, Oulad Abdoun Basin, Sidi Daoui, in posterior (A₁), labial (A₂), anterior (A₃), and lingual (A₄) view. B. REMPC M0002, UCIII (Maastrichtian) layer, Oulad Abdoun Basin, Sidi Chennane, in posterior (B₁), labial (B₂), anterior (B₃), and lingual (B₄) view. C. REMPC M0003, UCIII (Maastrichtian) layer, Oulad Abdoun Basin, Sidi Chennane, in posterior (C₁), labial (C₂), anterior (C₃), and lingual (C₄) view.

 

Mosasaurus hoffmannii Mantell, 1829, from the Moroccan phosphates. D. AVM 01, UCIII (Maastrichtian) layer, Oulad Abdoun Basin, in posterior (D₁), labial (D₂), anterior (D₃), and lingual (D₄) view. Upper Couche III (Maastrichtian) layer, Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco. E. AVM 02, UCIII (Maastrichtian) layer, Oulad Abdoun Basin, in posterior (E₁), labial (E₂), anterior (E₃), and lingual (E₄) view.

 

Mosasaurus hoffmannii Mantell, 1829, F. CORN 01 in anterior (F₁), labial (F₂), posterior (F₃), and lingual (F₄) view. Upper Couche III (Maastrichtian) layer, Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco (Image courtesy of George Corneille).

 

Teeth from the first discovered Mosasaurus hoffmannii specimen, TM 7424, Teylers Museum, Haarlem, the Netherlands, A. in lingual view; B. in labial view showing prism faces; C. in lingual view showing indiscernible lingual facets, light serrations on the carinae, and medial tooth curvature.

 

 

 

[JohnJ]

Awesome work, guys!  Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

 

 

[piranha]

A couple of issues to address that will certainly persist given the historic significance of the "first" M. hoffmannii specimens from Morocco: Obviously, instead of "miners working in the local fossil industry", it would be ideal to have precise locality data based on in situ discoveries by actual members of your team. Then the threshold of "a likely origin from the Oulad Abdoun Basin, in central Morocco" can be made with certainty. Hopefully there will another expedition that can definitively corroborate this important discovery. Congrats on the paper and best of luck with your upcoming research.

[Praefectus]

Unfortunately, imprecise locality data is the current standard for discoveries coming from the Moroccan Phosphates. The holotype material from Carinodens belgicus, Globidens simplex, Gavialimimus alamghribensis, Xenodens calminechari, and many others were discovered by local miners working in the Moroccan Phosphates rather than paleontologists doing field expeditions. I hope to do a future study looking at mosasaurid biostratigraphy and biogeography in the region. There are rumors that certain mosasaurs (Prognathodon currii?) only occur near the Sidi Chennane quarry and not at Sidi Daoui and also that other mosasaurs (Carinodens sp.) only occur in certain layers (Couche IV rather than the usual mosasaur layer Couche III). Plenty of future work to be done. 

[RuMert]

Good job, keep it up

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

Wow! So great this has finally been published! 

 

There's certainly a lot more work to be done on Moroccan mosasaurs, but we'll only get there taking one step at a time. And, yes, this has been a great project to work on! Thanks to everyone involved in making this article a reality!

[Sjfriend]

Congratulations to you both for getting this done.

[BrennanThePaleoDude]

You did well my friend! I am excited for the next one!!!