03231 - Very Rare Rooted 0.66 Inch Hamadasuchus Rebouli Crocodile Tooth From Kem Kem

Crocodile tooth belonging to a quite rare species in the Cretaceous in the Kem Kem. It is from the Hamadasuchus rebouli species. This specimen preserves all its root, which makes it very special. It does not have any restoration or reparation. This is a small jewel of the sites in the south of Morocco.

The crocodile rests represent a high percentage of the faunal association of the Cretaceous in the north of Morocco. However, its specific identification presents an enormous complexity. Even the genus identification is very complicated if only dentition rests are available. Many fossil sellers that work with pieces from this area, label their crocodile teeth as belonging to the huge crocodile of the Sarcosuchus sp genus --however, it is not present in this zone of Africa.

Next we will list the crocodile species described so far in the north African Cretaceous:
- Aegisuchus witmeri (Holliday & Gardner, 2012)
- Araripesuchus rattoides (Sereno & Larsson, 2009)
- Elosuchus cherifiensis (Lavocat, 1955)
- Hamadasuchus rebouli (Buffetaut, 1994)
- Kemkemia auditorei (Cau & Maganuco, 2009)
- Laganosuchus maghrebensis (Sereno & Larsson, 2009)

During the Upper Cretaceous the north of Africa was a humid region close to the Sea of Tetis, a maritime way between the austral continents of Gondwana and the terrestrial boreal masses of Laurasia. At this time, the sediments of the Kem Kem Formation in Morocco were deposited in a fresh water delta system. All the crocodylomorpha lived in this delta next to fish, turtles, snakes and varanidae lizards, ptesoraurs and sauropod dinosaurs, and theropods. All of them can be considered riverside predators. Their potential preys included coelacanths and lungfish, of which fossils have been found in the Kem Kem layers.

The Upper Cretaceous was an important period in the evolution of the crocodiles because many terrestrial masses were splitting What is now Europe and Asia was moving away from Africa, forming the Tetis Sea. In the meanwhile, North America continued separating from the rest of Laurasia, as the Atlantic ocean was widening