Continental intercalaire explained

Continental intercalaire
Period:	Cretaceous
Type:	Geological formation
Region:	Northern Africa
Thickness:	30mto800mm (100feetto2,600feetm)

The Continental intercalaire, sometimes referred to as the Continental intercalaire Formation, is a term applied to Cretaceous strata in Northern Africa. It is the largest single stratum found in Africa to date, being between 30mand800mm (100feetand2,600feetm) thick in some places. Fossils, including dinosaurs, have been recovered from this formation.^[1] The Continental intercalaire stretches from Algeria, Tunisia and Niger in the west to Egypt and Sudan in the east.^{[2] [3]}

History

The Continental intercalaire was first identified during the course of several expeditions to the Sahara from 1946 to 1959 which were led by the French paleontologist Albert-Félix de Lapparent.^[4]

Description

The Continental intercalaire is most often likened to the Kem Kem Group.

Fossil content

Archosaurs

• Aegyptosaurus baharijensis
• Bahariasaurus ingens
• "Brachiosaurus" nougaredi
• Carcharodontosaurus saharicus
• cf. Carcharodontosaurus sp.
• Iguanodontia indet.
• Inosaurus tedreftensis
• Nigersaurus taqueti
• Paralititan stromeri? (remains may instead represent Aegyptosaurus)
• Rebbachisaurus ?tamesnensis
• Ornithopoda indet. (multiple species)
• Sauropoda indet. (multiple species)
• Sarcosuchus imperator
• Spinosaurus aegyptiacus
• cf. Spinosaurus
• Theropoda indet. (2-4 separate species)
• Theropoda indet. (=Elaphrosaurus iguidiensis)

^[5]

Fish

• Mawsonia (several species)
• Onchopristis numidus

^[5]

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

Notes and References

1. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Africa)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 571-573. .
2. Palaeoenvironments of vertebrates on the southern shore of Tethys: The nonmarine Early Cretaceous of Tunisia . Paul E. Anderson, Michael J. Benton,⁎ Clive N. Trueman, Bruce A. Paterson, Gilles Cuny . 2007. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 243 . Elsevier . 1-2. 118–131. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.07.015 . 2007PPP...243..118A .
3. The Continental Intercalaire of southern Tunisia: Stratigraphy, paleontology, and paleoecology . Federico Fanti, Michela Contessi, Fulvio Franchi . 2012. Journal of African Earth Sciences . 73 . 73–74 . Elsevier . 1–23. 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2012.07.006 . 2012JAfES..73....1F .
4. De Broin, France; Taquet, Philippe (1966). "Découverte d'un Crocodilien nouveau dans le Crétacé inférieur du Sahara". C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris (in French). 262 (D).
5. "Continental intercalaire." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pg. 571-572.