Elasmosaur (Genus sp. indet.)

Remarks

• Collection:   Lee Garrison
• Formation:  Phosphates of Morocco
• Location:     Kem Kem Basin, Morocco

• Although Arambourg et al. described the tooth as Plesiosaurus mauritanicus, Plesiosaurus is a strictly Jurassic genus, and Bardet et al. indicated that the tooth material from Morocco and Jordan is not diagnostic at the genus or species level.

General

Synonyms (older names and misidentifications in the literature)

• 1952 Plesiosaurus mauritanicus Arambourg & Signeux

• 2002 Elasmosauridae indet.; Bardet & Suberbiola

Stratigraphic Occurrence

• Kem Kem Phosphates of Morocco

• Belqa Group of Jordan (no formation specified)

Age

• The elasmosaur shown is Latest Maastrichtian in age (~66-65 mya).

Geographic Occurrence (by no means an all-inclusive list)

• Jordan

• Morocco

Remarks

         For identification and descriptions, see:

• Bardet, N.; Suberbiola, X. P.  2002.  Marine Reptiles from the Late Cretaceous Phosphates of Jordan:  Palaeobiogeographical Implications.  Geodiversitas 24(4), 834-835; fig. 2D.
• Arambourg, C.; Signeux, J. 1952.  Les Vertébrés Fossiles des Gisements de Phosphates (Maroc - Algérie - Tunisie).  Notes et Mémoires du Division of Mines and Geology, French Morocco 92,275-276; fig's 11-19.