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Elrhaz Formation

Geological formation in Niger, West Africa

Summary

Geological formation in Niger, West Africa

Field	Value
name	Elrhaz Formation
image	Gadoufaoua.png
caption	Outcrops of the formation near Gadoufaoua
type	Geological formation
age	Early Cretaceous (Barremian to Albian),
period	Albian
prilithology	Sandstone
region	Africa
country	Niger
coordinates
paleocoordinates
unitof	Tegama Group
underlies	Echkar Formation
overlies	Tazolé Formation
extent	Tenere desert
map	{{Location map+	Niger
relief	1
width	250
float	center
lat_deg	16.8
lon_deg	9.5
mark	Lightgreen pog.svg
marksize	8

The Elrhaz Formation is a geological formation in Niger, West Africa.

Its strata date back to the Early Cretaceous, about 125 to 112 million years ago. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, alongside those of multiple species of crocodyliformes.

Gadoufaoua

Reconstructed skeleton of an [[anhanguerid]] from the formation

Gadoufaoua (Tuareg for "the place where camels fear to go") is a site within the Elrhaz Formation (located at ) in the Tenere desert of Niger known for its extensive fossil graveyard. It is where remains of Sarcosuchus imperator, popularly known as SuperCroc, were found (by Paul Sereno in 1997, for example), including vertebrae, limb bones, armor plates, jaws, and a nearly complete 6 ft skull.

A spinosaurid claw from the Elrhaz formation

Gadoufaoua is very hot and dry. Based on the sedimentary and fossil record, Gadoufaoua had trees, plants, and wide rivers 112 million years ago. The river covered the remains of dead animals, the fossilized remains of which were protected by the drying rivers over millions of years.

Vertebrate paleofauna

Chondrichthyes

Chondrichthyes	Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Hybodus	H. sp.	Dorsal spines		[[File:Hybodus model.jpg	center	150px]]

Sarcopterygii

Sarcopterygii	Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Asiatoceratodus	A. tiguidiensis		Dipnomorph fish. Originally described as Ceratodus tiguidiensis, assigned to Arganodus by M. Martin (1984)Martin, M., 1984. Révision des Arganodontidés et des Néocératodontidés (Dipnoi,
Mawsonia	M. tegamensis		A small species.	[[File:MawsoniaDB16 (cropped).jpg	center	150px]]
Neoceratodus	N. africanus	Tooth plates.	Dipnomorph fish. Originally described as Ceratodus africanus, assigned to Neoceratodus by M. Martin, 1982.	[[File:Neoceratodus forsteri Cologne Zoo.jpg	center	thumb	150px	[[Neoceratodus forsteri]], a modern species]]

Actinopterygii

Actinopterygii	Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Pliodetes	P. nigeriensis	Skull and postcranial material including body scales.	Originally thought to be a semionotid, later assigned to Lepisosteoidei.	[[File:Scales of Pliodetes nigeriensis.png	center	150px]]
Pycnodontidae indet."On the dinosaurian and crocodilian locality of Gadoufaoua (Republic of	Indeterminate

Testudines

Testudines	Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Francemys	F. gadoufaouaensis	"Shell of a juvenile individual and several articulated and disarticulated plates."	Pelomedusoid turtle. Named in honour of France de Lapparent de Broin.
Taquetochelys	T. decorata	last1=Pérez-García	first1=Adán	title= Identification of the Lower Cretaceous pleurodiran turtle Taquetochelys decorata as the only African araripemydid species	journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol	date=2018	volume=18	pages=24–32	doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2018.04.004	language=en	issn=1631-0683	doi-access=free }}	Araripemydid turtle, similar in shell size to South American Araripemys (20–30 cm). Laganemys tenerensis was synonymysed with Taquetochelys by Pérez-García, 2018.
Teneremys	T. lapparenti	last1=Pérez-García	first1=Adán	title=The African Aptian Francemys gadoufaouaensis gen. et sp. nov.: New data on the early diversification of Pelomedusoides (Testudines, Pleurodira) in northern Gondwana	journal=Cretaceous Research	date=1 October 2019	volume=102	pages=112–126	doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2019.06.003	language=en	issn=0195-6671	doi-access=free	bibcode=2019CrRes.102..112P }}

Crocodyliformes

Crocodyliformes	Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Anatosuchus	A. minor	"Nearly complete skull"	[[File:Anatosuchus BW.jpg	center	150px]]
Araripesuchus	A. wegeneri	"Nearly complete skull"	[[File:Araripesuchus wegeneri.jpg	center	150px]]
Sarcosuchus	S. imperator	"Partial skeletons, numerous skulls"	[[File:Sarcosuchus Illustration.jpg	center	150px]]
Stolokrosuchus	S. lapparenti

Dinosaurs

Ornithischians

Ornithischians	Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Elrhazosaurus	E. nigeriensis	"Femora."	A dryosaurid	[[File:Elrhazosaurus NT.png	center	150px]]
Lurdusaurus	L. arenatus	"Partial skull, fragmentary postcranial skeleton."		[[File:Lurdusaurus1.jpg	center	150px]]
Ouranosaurus	O. nigeriensis	"Skull and poscrania, second skeleton."		[[File:Ouranosaurus nigeriensis restoration.png	center	150px]]

Theropods

Theropods	Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Afromimus	A. tenerensis	"caudal vertebrae, chevrons and portions of the right hind limb"	first1=M.A.	last1=Cerroni	first2=F.L.	last2=Agnolin	first3=F.	last3=Brissón Egli	first4=F.E.	last4=Novas	year=2019	title=The phylogenetic position of Afromimus tenerensis Sereno, 2017 and its paleobiogeographical implications	journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences	volume=159	article-number=103572	doi=10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103572	bibcode=2019JAfES.15903572C	s2cid=201352476 }}	[[File:Afromimus LM (gray).png	center	150px]]
last1=Taquet	first1=Philippe	last2=Russell	first2=Dale A	date=1998	title=New data on spinosaurid dinosaurs from the early cretaceous of the Sahara	journal=Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série IIA	language=en	volume=327	issue=5	pages=347–353	doi=10.1016/S1251-8050(98)80054-2	issn=1251-8050	bibcode=1998CRASE.327..347T}}	C. lapparenti	Jaw bones and vertebral fragments.	A spinosaurid potentially synonymous with Suchomimus	[[File:Cristatusaurus_lapparenti_by_PaleoGeek.png	center	150px]]
Eocarcharia	E. dinops	"Partial skull and postcranial remains."	last1=Cau	first1=Andrea	author1-link=Andrea Cau	last2=Paterna	first2=Alessandro	date=May 2025	title=Beyond the Stromer's Riddle: the impact of lumping and splitting hypotheses on the systematics of the giant predatory dinosaurs from northern Africa	url=https://www.italianjournalofgeosciences.it/297/article-1220/beyond-the-stromer-s-riddle-the-impact-of-lumping-and-splitting-hypotheses-on-the-systematics-of-the-giant-predatory-dinosaurs-from-northern-africa.html	journal=Italian Journal of Geosciences	volume=144	issue=2	pages=162–185	doi=10.3301/IJG.2025.10	url-access=subscription }}	[[File:Eocarcharia, improved.png	center	150px]]
Kryptops	K. palaios	Postcranial skeleton and partial skull.	An abelisaurid	[[File:Kryptops life restoration.jpg	center	150px]]
Suchomimus	S. tenerensis	Partial skull and associated skeleton.	A baryonychine spinosaurid	[[File:Suchomimus2.jpg	center	150px]]

Sauropods

Sauropods	Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Nigersaurus	N. taqueti	Skull and skeletal remains	A rebbachisaurid.	[[File:Nigersaurus BW.jpg	center	150px]]

Flora

Plants	Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
title=Niveau des Innocents, Gadoufaoua (Cretaceous of Niger)	url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicCollectionSearch?collection_no=37200	access-date=2025-05-29	website=paleobiodb.org}}	P. stromeri		A tree fern and member of Matoniaceae.
Protophyllocladoxylon	P.chudeaui		A conifer

References

Bibliography

References

[https://web.archive.org/web/20050620052229/http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/Archive/a-2001-11-12-2-1.cfm SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Nov. 13: Digest - 12 November 2001 Voice of America]
N. Tabaste. 1963. Étude derestes de poissons du Crétacé saharien [Study of fish remains from the Saharan Cretaceous]. Mélanges Ichthyologiques Dédiés à la Mémoire d'Achille Valenciennes (1794–1865). Mémoires de l'Institute Français d'Afrique Noire 68:437-485
(1998). "Skull structure in post-paleozoic lungfish". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
"Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database".
Taquet, Philippe. (1998). "Dinosaur impressions: postcards from a paleontologist". Cambridge; New York : Cambridge University Press.
(2016). "Why so many dipnoans? A multidisciplinary approach on the Lower Cretaceous lungfish record from Tunisia". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
(1982). "Nouvelles données sur la phylogénie et la systématique des dipneustes postpaléozoïques [New data on the phylogeny and systematics of post-Paleozoic dipnoans]". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série II.
S. Wenz. 1999. Pliodetes nigeriensis, gen. nov. et. sp. nov., a new semionotid fish from the Lower Cretaceous of Gadoufaoua (Niger Republic): phylogenetic comments. In G. Arratia & H.-P. Schultz (ed.), Mesozoic Fishes 2—Systematics and Fossil Record 107-120
A. López-Arbarello. 2012. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229162077_Phylogenetic_Interrelationships_of_Ginglymodian_Fishes_Actinopterygii_Neopterygii Phylogenetic interrelationships of ginglymodian fishes (Actinopterygii: Neopterygii)]. PLoS ONE
(2018). "Identification of the Lower Cretaceous pleurodiran turtle Taquetochelys decorata as the only African araripemydid species". Comptes Rendus Palevol.
F. de Broin. 1980. Les tortues de Gadoufaoua (Aptien du Niger); aperçu sur la Paléobiogéographie des Pelomedusidae (Pleurodira). Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France
(1 October 2019). "The African Aptian Francemys gadoufaouaensis gen. et sp. nov.: New data on the early diversification of Pelomedusoides (Testudines, Pleurodira) in northern Gondwana". Cretaceous Research.
"68.1 Departement D'Agedez, Niger; 1. Elrhaz Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 572
Sereno et al., 2011
"Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 415.
"Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 416.
"Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 417.
(2017). "Early Cretaceous ornithomimosaurs (Dinosauria: Coelurosauria) from Africa". Ameghiniana.
(2019). "The phylogenetic position of ''Afromimus tenerensis'' Sereno, 2017 and its paleobiogeographical implications". Journal of African Earth Sciences.
(1998). "New data on spinosaurid dinosaurs from the early cretaceous of the Sahara". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série IIA.
(2003). "The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs". Special Papers in Palaeontology.
Sereno & Brusatte, 2008
"Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 73.
(May 2025). "Beyond the Stromer's Riddle: the impact of lumping and splitting hypotheses on the systematics of the giant predatory dinosaurs from northern Africa". Italian Journal of Geosciences.
"Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2008). Page 72.
"Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 72.
"Niveau des Innocents, Gadoufaoua (Cretaceous of Niger)".

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