1520 - Rare Unidentified Cretaceous Crocodile Metacarpal Bone - KemKem Beds

SPECIES Unidentified crocodile Metacarpal Bone
AGE Upper Cretaceous, Cenomanian stage, (~96 Million Years)
LOCATION Taouz, Kem Kem Basin, South Morocco
FORMATION Ifezouane Formation, Red Sandstone Beds
SIZE: 15,2 cm
REF. 1520

Observations: Rare COMPLETE metacarpal bone from an unidentified cretaceous crocodile. It has some glued and tiny filled fractures. Unusual specimen.

The crocodile rests represent a high percentage of the faunal association of the Cretaceous in the south of Morocco. However, its specific identification presents an enormous complexity. Even the genus identification is very complicated. Probably it belongs to the genus Elosuchus sp.

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