Jurassic dinosaurs trotted between Africa and Europe

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on October 25, 2019 / comment : 0 Dinosaurs, Fossils, Morocco, Palaeontology

Dinosaur footprints found in several European countries, very similar to others in Morocco, suggest that they could have been dispersed between the two continents by land masses separated by a shallow sea more than 145 million years ago.

Photograph of the tracks analyzed: (A) Megalosauripus transjuranicus (B) Jurabrontes transjuranicus [Credit: Matteo Belvedere et al. 2019]

At the end of the Jurassic, as a consequence of the defragmentation of the Pangaea subcontinent, the countries that now form Europe were part of an archipelago surrounded by a shallow sea. In its interior, the Iberian Peninsula was located in the southernmost part, on the continent of Laurasia (which included present-day North America and Eurasia), but near Gondwana, the continent to the south.

Large predators strolled through these lands and their footprints have been found on different continents. Thus, for example, ichnites and bones of allosaurs and stegosaurs have been found in both North America and Portugal, suggesting that both territories were connected in some way.

In a new study, published in the Journal of African Earth Sciences, a team of European scientists, with Spanish participation, has now recognized two types of dinosaur footprints related to large Jurassic predators in today's Switzerland, Portugal, Spain (which belonged to Laurasia) and Morocco (which was in Gondwana).

Comparison between the two types of footprints [Credit: Matteo Belvedere et al. 2019]

The marks, called Megalosauripus transjuranicus and Jurabrontes curtedulensis, belonged to carnivorous theropods similar to Tyrannosaurus rex. "On the one hand, we have identified a type of large and slender footprints with a size of 30-50 cm and, on the other hand, other gigantic and robust footprints measuring more than 50 cm," as Diego Castanera, from the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Institute of Palaeontology (ICP) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and co-author of the work, has explained to SINC.

In order to distinguish the types of footprints, the team used a novel software called DigTrace, which made it possible to virtually compare the fossilized footprints. "We can't determine with certainty what animal left a particular footstep since different related dinosaurs could leave very similar footprints," says Castanera.

However, this study confirms that the differences between the two groups of footprints identified are important enough for their originators to be different but closely related dinosaurs.

Illustration of an allosaurus [Credit: Oscar Sanisidro © Institut Catala de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont]

Scientists thus suggest that they probably belonged to Allosaurus and Torvosaurus, since their remains have been found in the Upper Jurassic of Portugal, indicating the presence of two super-predators in the terrestrial ecosystems of the late Jurassic.

To confirm these data, the group of researchers stresses that more studies are needed, especially to answer an important question: how did the dinosaurs pass between Laurasia and Gondwana? "The answer is problematic because geological studies indicate that there was a deep sea between the two continents," stresses the scientist.

The presence of the same species in such distant places forces scientists to propose dispersal routes between continents during the Mesozoic, the time during which dinosaurs lived. These large animals were thus able to move between Africa and Europe on land masses with short emersion periods and through southern Italy and the Balkans or through Iberia (what is nowadays the Iberian Peninsula).

Source: Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) [October 25, 2019]

Arthropods formed orderly queues 480 million years ago

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on October 17, 2019 / comment : 0 Fossils, Morocco, Palaeontology

Researchers studied fossilized Moroccan Ampyx trilobites, which lived 480 million years ago and showed that the trilobites had probably been buried in their positions -- all oriented in the same direction. Scientists deduced that these Ampyx processions may illustrate a kind of collective behavior adopted in response to cyclic environmental disturbances.

Ampyx priscus in linear formation (Moroccan Lower Ordovician Fezouata Shale) [Credit: Jean Vannier,  Laboratoire de Geologie de Lyon: Terre, Planetes, Environnement (CNRS / ENS de Lyon / Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1)]

Though our understanding of the anatomy of the earliest animals is growing ever more precise, we know next to nothing about their behaviour. Did group behaviour arise recently or is it primeval? To answer this question, researchers from the CNRS, the University of Poitiers, UBO, Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University, Cadi Ayyad University (Marrakech, Morocco), and the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) studied fossilized Moroccan Ampyx trilobites, which lived 480 million years ago. They showed that the trilobites had probably been buried in their positions -- all oriented in the same direction, in orderly lines, maintaining close contact with each other through their long spines -- during storms.

By comparing this observation with the behaviour of living animals such as North American spiny lobsters, the scientists deduced that these Ampyx processions may illustrate a similar kind of collective behaviour -- adopted in response to cyclic environmental disturbances like storms or to chemical signals associated with reproduction.

Ampyx priscus in linear formation (Moroccan Lower Ordovician Fezouata Shale) [Credit: Jean Vannier,  Laboratoire de Geologie de Lyon: Terre, Planetes, Environnement (CNRS / ENS de Lyon / Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1)]

This example would seem to suggest that group behaviour is of ancient origin and, from an early date, likely conferred an evolutionary advantage on the first animals, allowing them to survive environmental stress and improve their reproductive chances.

The findings are published in Scientific Reports.

Source: CNRS [October 17, 2019]

The oldest stegosaur ever has been discovered in Morocco

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on August 21, 2019 / comment : 0 Dinosaurs, Fossils, Morocco, Palaeontology

A new species of stegosaurian dinosaur, Adratiklit boulahfa, has been described by researchers. It is the oldest definite stegosaur ever found.

Scientists said despite the limited number of fossils they had to work with, the specimens were sufficient for them to identify them as belonging to a new species of stegosaur [Credit: Getty]

Its remains were uncovered in the Middle Atlas mountains of Morocco, making Adratiklit the first stegosaur to be found in North Africa. It is likely to be about 168 million years old.

All that is left of the animal is a handful of vertebrae and an upper arm bone, but those were enough for a team a palaeontologists to confidently identify not only a new species but a new genus.

The study was led by Dr Susannah Maidment, a Museum dinosaur expert, in collaboration with colleagues from Morocco.

Susie says, 'The discovery of A. boulahfa is particularly exciting as we have dated it to the Middle Jurassic. Most known stegosaurs date from later in the Jurassic Period, making this the oldest definite stegosaur described and helping to increase our understanding of the evolution of this group of dinosaurs.'

It is named Adratiklit boulahfa from the Berber words for mountain (Adras) and lizard (tiklit). The species name, boulahfa, refers to where the specimen was found.

Adratiklit was an armoured, herbivorous dinosaur and is part of the group of animals that includes ankylosaurs and stegosaurs. It would have lived on Gondwana, an ancient supercontinent.

The new species' vertebrae [Credit: Natural History Museum]

When stegosaurs were alive, Earth's land was split into two supercontinents: Laurasia and Gondwana. Laurasia included the land masses that today make up most of the northern hemisphere's continents, and Gondwana eventually split into land masses including Africa, South America, Australia and Antarctica.

Stegosaur remains from Laurasia are diverse and common. Many have been found in rocks in North America, Asia and Europe. But far fewer have been found from Gondwana.

Susie explains, 'Most stegosaurs we know of - including Sophie at the Museum, the most complete stegosaur discovered - have been found in Laurasian rock formations. However, this may not mean that stegosaurs were uncommon in Gondwana. It may be due to the fact that Gondwana rock formations have been subject to far fewer excavations and detailed studies.'

The discovery of A. boulahfa now adds to the theory that the Gondwanan fossil record of armoured dinosaurs is significantly biased by both geological factors and collection efforts.

Susie adds, 'What is exciting about this is that there could be many more armoured dinosaurs to find in places that until now have not been excavated.'

The specimen is more closely related to European stegosaurs like Dacentrurus and Miragaia than it is to the two genera already known from southern Africa.

Excavations commence at Morocco's Dar El Baroud site

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on August 04, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Morocco, North Africa

Morocco’s Ministry of Culture has launched the second phase of archaeological excavations at “Dar El Baroud,” an ancient pottery district in Sale, not far from the capital Rabat.

Credit: MAP Archives

The excavations have revealed “the major importance of the site in terms of history, archaeology, and art,” said the ministry in a statement.

Credit: MAP Archives

The archaeological works have uncovered a complete artisanal district dedicated to the pottery dating from the 12th to the 14th century. The site includes 40 pottery ovens, several artisan workshops, and various types of ceramics.

Credit: MAP Archives

The work on the site and artifacts found significantly boost scientific research on Islamic archaeology and ceramics both in Morocco and in the wider Islamic West, according to the statement.


As a result, the ministry is working on setting up a center dedicated to the site, in order to promote Sale’s history and heritage.

Author: Juliette Owen-Jones | Source: Morocco World News [August 04, 2019]

Morocco to restore Lixus archaeological site

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on July 09, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Heritage, Morocco, North Africa

Lixus is an ancient city on the banks of the Loukous River. First settled by the Phoenicians in the 12th century BC, it flourished under the Roman empire. The site is home to the only Roman amphitheater in Morocco and a large industrial complex where fish was preserved in salt. The city was destroyed during the Muslim conquest of Morocco in the late 7th century.

Credit: Bermudez Lievano/Flickr

The site was excavated and restored during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Culture spent MAD 11.8 million, building a new visitor’s center and other tourism infrastructure.

Credit: Bermudez Lievano/Flickr

Under the new MAD 15 million (approximately $1.5 million) restoration program launched on July 6, MAD 6,75 million will go towards restoration and maintenance of the site. A further MAD 4,6 million will go towards improving infrastructure, while MAD 2,2 million will go towards archeological research and training, and MAD 1,05 million will go towards promotion.

Credit: WikiCommons

In a press release, the Minister stated that the program aims to promote the site locally and nationally, making it a hub for scientific research and tourism. The Ministry will also work towards the site being listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Credit: fchmksfkcb/Flickr

The Ministry will also plans to launch a national pilot program to promote other archeological sites across the country. The project comes as part of a cultural and economic development strategy, adds the press release.

Credit: Max Lelong/Flickr

Morocco boasts a variety of archeological sites, dotted across the country. These include dinosaur footprints and fossils, rock carvings, ancient Phoenician cities like Lixus, and the site of the Roman ruins of Volubilis, which was listed on the UNESCO register in 1997.

Author: Margot Eliason | Source: Morocco World News [July 09, 2019]

Roman moat discovered near Tetouan, Morocco

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on May 10, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Morocco, North Africa

Archaeologists from the University of Cadiz in Spain have discovered the ruins of a Roman moat at Tamuda, an archaeology site near Tetouan in northern Morocco.

Archaeologists from the University of Cadiz in Spain have discovered an ancient Roman moat near Tetouan, the first of its kind to be discovered in Morocco [Credit: Morocco World News]

The Spanish team has been excavating the Tamuda site for a decade. The research was primarily funded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and private Spanish organization Palarq.

The Roman moat is an important discovery because it may be the first archaeological finding of this kind in Morocco, stated the University of Cadiz in a press release.

It is likely to be part of a Roman military fort and would have been built around a camp, as part of a well-known Roman defensive strategy.

The moat likely dates from the first century AD, during the creation of the Roman province Mauretania Tingitana. Professor Bernal from the University of Cadiz confirmed that the team would be carrying out more excavations at the site.

The excavation of the Tamuda site is a long-term project between Morocco and Spain. It was set up through a bilateral agreement between the Ministry of Culture of Morocco and the University of Cadiz.

Archaeologists and researchers participating in the project come from Spain, Morocco, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, “making this important Moroccan pre-Islamic site an active international training laboratory, ” stated Professor Darío Bernal Casasola from the University of Cadiz.

The site was first discovered in 1921 by Spanish archaeologist Cesar Luis de Montalbán.

Author: Margot Eliason | Source: Morocco World News [May 10, 2019]

Hundreds of mysterious stone structures discovered in Western Sahara

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on February 05, 2019 / comment : 0 Africa, Archaeology, Morocco, North Africa

Hundreds of stone structures dating back thousands of years have been discovered in the Western Sahara, a territory in Africa little explored by archaeologists.

Credit: Copyright Nick Brooks and Joanne Clarke

The structures seem to come in all sizes and shapes, and archaeologists aren't sure what many of then were used for or when they were created, archaeologists report in the book "The Archaeology of Western Sahara: A Synthesis of Fieldwork, 2002 to 2009" (Oxbow Books, 2018).

About 75 percent of the Western Saharan territory, including most of the coastline, is controlled by Morocco, while 25 percent is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Before 1991, the two governments were in a state of war.

Credit: Copyright Nick Brooks and Joanne Clarke

Between 2002 and 2009, archaeologists worked in the field surveying the landscape and doing a small amount of excavation in the part of Western Sahara that is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. They also investigated satellite images on Google Earth, they wrote in the book.

"Due to its history of conflict, detailed archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research in Western Sahara has been extremely limited," wrote Joanne Clarke, a senior lecturer at the University of East Anglia, and Nick Brooks, an independent researcher.

Credit: Copyright Nick Brooks and Joanne Clarke

"The archaeological map of Western Sahara remains literally and figuratively almost blank as far as the wider international archaeological research community is concerned, particularly away from the Atlantic coast," wrote Clarke and Brooks, noting that people living in the area know of the stone structures, and some work has been done by Spanish researchers on rock art in Western Sahara.

Mysterious structures

The stone structures are designed in a wide variety of ways. Some are shaped like crescents, others form circles, some are in straight lines, some in rectangular shapes that look like a platform; some structures consist of rocks that have been piled up into a heap. And some of the structures use a combination of these designs. For instance, one structure has a mix of straight lines, stone circles, a platform and rock piles that altogether form a complex about 2,066 feet (630 meters) long, the archaeologists noted in the book.

Credit: Copyright Nick Brooks and Joanne Clarke

Though the archaeologists are unsure of the purpose of many of the structures, they said some of them may mark the location of graves. Little excavation has been done on the structures, and archaeologists have found few artifacts that can be dated using a radiocarbon method. Among the few excavated sites are two "tumuli" (heaps of rock) that contain human burials dating back around 1,500 years.

Research suggests that Western Sahara was once a wetter place that could sustain more animal life than it does today. Archaeologists documented rock art showing images of cattle, giraffe, oryx and Barbary sheep while environmental researchers found evidence for lakes and other water sources that dried up thousands of years ago.

Security problems

At present, security problems in the region mean that fieldwork has stopped, Clarke and Brooks told Live Science. The terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operates in the desert regions near Western Sahara, and in 2013 they kidnapped two Spanish aid workers at a refugee camp in Tindouf, Algeria, just across the border from Western Sahara.

Credit: Copyright Nick Brooks and Joanne Clarke

While the Sahrawi people and Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic strongly oppose the terrorist group, it's extremely difficult for authorities to effectively patrol the vast desert areas where the stone structures are located, Clarke and Brooks said. This means archaeologists can't work there safely right now. This problem is not unique to Western Sahara, as the security risks posed by terrorist and extremist groups in the region mean that archaeologists can't work in much of North Africa right now, they said.

Author: Owen Jarus | Source: Live Science [February 05, 2019]

These strange fossils are closely related to sea urchins

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on February 02, 2019 / comment : 0 Fossils, Morocco, Palaeontology

Just a few centimeters long, these animals thrived in the ocean roughly half a billion years ago. Because of their odd morphology, scientists have long struggled to find their branch on the tree of life.

Stunningly well-preserved fossilized soft tissues of a stylophoran have recently been discovered. Shown here is the reconstruction of an individual of the stylophoran genus Thoralicystis. Stylophorans measured 0.5 to 4 cm and had flat, massive bodies or tests with paddle-like extensions, analogous to snowshoes, which allowed them to stay over soft seafloors [Credit: Rich Mooi/California Academy of Science]

Was their long appendage similar to a tail? That would make them ancestors of the vertebrates. However, their skeletons are made up of many calcite plates, suggestive of the bodies of echinoderms like sea urchins and starfish, even though they lack the characteristic symmetry of these animals.

A team led by Bertrand Lefebvre, a CNRS researcher at the Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, could finally settle this 150-year-old debate, using exceptionally preserved fossils from the Bou Izargane excavation in Morocco.

Mapping of iron distribution in a portion of the articulated appendage of a stylophoran from the Moroccan region of Zagora. Iron-rich pyritized zones appear in green. They indicate where living soft tissue once laid. Here, we can clearly see ambulacral podia (pieds ambulacraires)—hollow tubes for feeding and locomotion—branching out along the water vascular canal (canal aquifère). The arms of starfish and other echinoderms, like crinoids and brittle stars, possess the same type of structure [Credit: Bertrand Lefebvre/LGL-TPE/CNRS]

Very unusually, the soft tissues of the fossilized creatures were preserved as pyrite, a ferrous mineral. By mapping the distribution of iron within the fossils, the researchers were able to clarify the fine structure of the appendage, which turns out to be comparable to that of a starfish arm. So these organisms had neither a head nor a tail, but rather a feeding arm.

The findings are published in the journal Geobios.

Source: CNRS [February 03, 2019]

Long-necked dinosaurs rotated their forefeet to the side

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on January 29, 2019 / comment : 0 Dinosaurs, Fossils, Morocco, Palaeontology

Long-necked dinosaurs (sauropods) could orient their forefeet both forward and sideways. The orientation of their feet depended on the speed and centre of mass of the animals. An international team of researchers investigated numerous dinosaur footprints in Morocco at the foot of the Atlas Mountains using state-of-the-art methods. By comparing them with other sauropods tracks, the scientists determined how the long-necked animals moved forward. The results have now been published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Well preserved footprints of the find site in Morocco with clearly visible claw impressions [Credit: The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology]

"Long-necked dinosaurs" (sauropods) were among the most successful herbivores of the Mesozoic Era -- the age of the dinosaurs. Characteristic for this group were a barrel-shaped body on columnar legs as well as an extremely long neck, which ended in a relatively small head. Long-necked dinosaurs existed from about 210 to 66 million years ago -- they thus had been able to assert themselves on earth for a very long period. Also their gigantism, with which they far surpassed other dinosaurs, points at their success.

Sauropods included the largest land animals in Earth history, some over 30 metres long and up to 70 tonnes in weight. "However, it is still unclear how exactly these giants moved," says Jens Lallensack, paleontologist at the Institute of Geosciences and Meteorology at the University of Bonn in Germany. The limb joints were partly cartilaginous and therefore not fossilised, allowing only limited conclusions about the range of movement.

Detective work with 3D computer analyses

The missing pieces of the puzzle, however, can be reconstructed with the help of fossil footprints of the giants. An international team of researchers from Japan, Morocco and Germany, led by the University of Bonn, has now investigated an unique track site in Morocco at the foot of the Atlas Mountains. The site consists of a surface of 54 x 6 metres which was vertically positioned during mountain formation and shows hundreds of individual footprints, some of which overlap.

This is the complete surface of the track site in Morocco, which is 54 meters in length and contains hundreds of footprints [Credit: © The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology]

A part of these footprints could be assigned to a total of nine trackways (sequences of individual footprints). "Working out individual tracks from this jumbled mess of footprints was detective work and only possible through the analysis of high-resolution 3D models on the computer," says Dr. Oliver Wings of the Zentralmagazin Naturwissenschaftlicher Sammlungen der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg in Germany.

The researchers were amazed by the results: the trackways are extremely narrow -- the right and left footprints are almost in line. Also, the forefoot impressions are not directed forwards, as is typical for sauropod tracks, but point to the side, and sometimes even obliquely backwards. Even more: The animals were able to switch between both orientations as needed.

The front part of the track site in Morocco with the two longest trackways. Above: 3-D model as depth color image, below: Interpretation of the footprints [Credit: The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology]

"People are able to turn their palms downwards by crossing the ulna and radius," says Dr. Michael Buchwitz of the Museum für Naturkunde Magdeburg. However, this complicated movement is limited to mammals and chameleons in today's terrestrial vertebrates. It was not possible in other animals, including dinosaurs. Sauropods must therefore have found another way of turning the forefoot forwards.

How can the rotation of the forefoot be explained?

How can the rotation of the forefoot in the sauropod tracks be explained? The key probably lies in the mighty cartilage layers, which allowed great flexibility in the joints, especially in the shoulder. But why were the hands rotated outwards at all?

"Outwardly facing hands with opposing palms were the original condition in the bipedal ancestors of the sauropods," explains Shinobu Ishigaki of the Okayama University of Science, Japan. The question should therefore be why most sauropods turned their forefeet forwards -- an anatomically difficult movement to implement.

Life reconstruction of the trackmaker, an early sauropod dinosaur [Credit: Darius Nau]

A statistical analysis of sauropod tracks from all over the world could provide important clues: Apparently the animals tended to have outwardly directed forefeet when the foreleg was not used for active locomotion but only for carrying body weight.

Thus the forefeet were often rotated further outwards when the animal moved slowly and the centre of mass of the body was far back. Only if the hands were also used for the forward drive, a forefoot directed to the front was advantageous.

The analysis furthermore showed that the outer rotation of the forefeet was limited to smaller individuals, whereas in larger animals they were mostly directed forward. The large animals apparently could no longer rotate their forefeet sideways. "This loss of mobility was probably a direct result of their gigantism," says Lallensack.

Author: Jens Lallensack | Source: University of Bonn [January 29, 2019]

Bone knife from Morocco is oldest specialized tool associated with Aterian culture

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on October 03, 2018 / comment : 0 Africa, Archaeology, Morocco, North Africa

A single bone artefact found in a Moroccan cave is the oldest well-dated specialized bone tool associated with the Aterian culture of the Middle Stone Age, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Abdeljalil Bouzouggar of the Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine in Morocco and colleagues. The make and manufacture of the tool are distinct from similarly-aged sub-Saharan artefacts, suggesting a unique technological industry in North Africa.

The discovery of a 90,000-year-old knife made of animal bone in Morocco points to the ancient emergence of specialized toolmaking in northern Africa [Credit: Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London (2018), S. Bello & Mohammed Kamal/Fotocam, Morocco]

The tool was recovered in 2012 from Dar-es Soltan 1 cave, located about 260km inland from the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Upon close examination, Bouzouggar and colleagues were able to identify the origins of the bone as a large mammal rib with evidence of having been shaped and sharpened into a 122mm-long knife through a complex series of modifications. The layer containing the bone knife has been dated to approximately 90,000 years ago, approximately 55,000 years after the first appearance of the Aterian culture.

This tool and the technology used to create it are distinct from bone tools of similar age in southern Africa but similar to two tools known from the El Mnasra cave site in Morocco which is also of similar age, suggesting a unique North African Aterian bone technology. Specialized bone tools are considered a sign of cognitive complexity but have been poorly-understood with the Aterian technological complex, so this finding represents a new insight into the development of modern human cognition. The authors also suggest that this new technology may have come about in response to changing resources around 90,000 years ago but note that more study will be required to support this.

Silvia Bello, a co-author, adds: "Aterians were capable of a complex and controlled sequence of actions involved in the manufacture of specialised bone knives. Such distinctive bone technology implies the emergence of an independent modern techno-complex unique to the north Africa around 100,000 years ago."

Source: Public Library of Science [October 03, 2018]

Morocco’s ancient city of Volubilis rises again

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on August 06, 2018 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Heritage, Morocco, North Africa

Situated in a fertile plain at the foot of Mount Zerhoun, the sprawling remains of Morocco's oldest Roman site—Volubilis—have survived pillage and long periods of neglect.

Tourists walk through the ruins of the ancient Roman site of Volubilis, near the town of Moulay Idriss Zerhounon  in Morocco's north central Meknes region [Credit: Fadel Senna/AFP]

After decades of decay, however, custodians of the now closely guarded ancient city have turned the page and are bringing back the tourists.

The site, nestled among olive groves near the city of Meknes, boasts a new museum and visitor center and has been attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors.

They stroll along the main artery lined with porticoes and the remnants of vast mansions, whose mosaic floors testify to a prosperous past.

A triumphal arch, a classic symbol of Roman architecture, sits at the top of what once was the main compound. Known in Arabic as "Oualili," the city was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997.

Tourists walk through the ruins of Morocco's oldest Roman site of Volubilis, in the center of a fertile plain  at the foot of Mount Zerhounn [Credit: Fadel Senna/AFP]

The ancient city has "known several civilizations, from the Mauritanian era to the Romans through the Islamic period," according to Mohamed Alilou, topographer and assistant conservator of the site.

Volubilis was founded in the third century BC by a Moorish community, before being annexed by the Roman Empire in 42 AD. At its peak, it would have counted up to 15,000 inhabitants.

Threatened by civil wars across the empire, the Romans evacuated the city in 285. It didn't regain its splendor until the arrival of Arab conquerors in the seventh century.

In the eighth century when the Idrisid dynasty erected the city of Fez as its new capital, Volubilis fell once more into disuse.


At the end of the 17th century, Sultan Moulay Ismail sent thousands of slaves to plunder Volubilis's marble columns for the construction of his palace in Meknes.

"On the track leading from Volubilis to Meknes, we found capitals [of columns] abandoned by slaves, who fled when they learnt that Moulay Ismail was dead," said Alilou, who has been watching over the site for more than 30 years.

Excavations at Volubilis began in 1915, along with research programs and restoration work. But renewed interest in the site brought with it looting, especially during the period of French colonial rule from 1912 to 1956.

One particularly striking case in 1982 made headlines when a marble statue of Bacchus—the Roman god of wine—disappeared.

A tourist walks through the arcades of the ancient Roman site of Volubilis, near the town of Moulay Idriss Zerhounon in Morocco's north central Meknes region [Credit: Fadel Senna/AFP]

In a desperate bid to find the relic, King Hassan II dispatched gendarmes who "interrogated, abused and beat" peasants who "didn't know Bacchus from Adam and Eve," according to Moroccan press reports.

The effort was in vain and the statue was never found.

"The people here are still traumatized," said a resident of nearby Moulay Driss Zerhoun.

Moroccan media frequently warn that the country's heritage—archaeological finds, mosaics and ancient coins—is being looted.

A tourist walks through the arcades of the ancient Roman site of Volubilis, near the town of Moulay Idriss Zerhounon in Morocco's north central Meknes region [Credit: Fadel Senna/AFP]

But in Volubilis, Alilou says that looting is a thing of the past. Today "the site is fenced off and well guarded," he said. "We have a team of 14 guards who work day and night, cameras are everywhere."

Mustafa Atki, another Volubilis conservator, said the whole issue of looting was "sometimes exaggerated."

Since the opening of its museum in 2013, the ancient city has attracted several hundred thousand visitors a year.

"In 2017, for the first time we past the 300,000 mark," said Atki.

After decades of looting and decay, custodians of the now closely guarded ancient city are turning the page and attracting back tourists [Credit: Fadel Senna/AFP]

Alilou said the ancient city covering 42 acres (17 hectares) has yet to reveal all of its secrets.

"A third of the site, especially the western quarter built in the Islamic era, has not been excavated," he said.

Source: AFP [August 06, 2018]

Ancient Moroccan dental remains elucidate history of long-lost African fauna

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on June 28, 2018 / comment : 0 Early Mammals, Fossils, Morocco, Palaeontology

Long before rhinoceros, giraffes, hippos, and antelopes roamed the African savannah, a group of large and highly specialized mammals known as embrithopods inhabited the continent. The most well known is Arsinoitherium, an animal that looked much like a rhinoceros but was in fact more closely related to elephants, sea cows, and hyraxes. Now, researchers reporting in Current Biology, offer a glimpse into this ancient past with the discovery of the earliest and most ancient embrithopod yet described.

The lower jaw of Stylolophus minor, holotype of the new species. C is 3-D model reconstructed  from CT scans. It shows by transparency the teeth roots, and especially those of the anterior incisors  that are enlarged and oriented (tilted) horizontally as in the early proboscidean Phosphatherium. Length of M1-3 series: 38.5mm. Scale bar, 10mm [Credit: Photos by Philippe Loubry (MNHN)/ Drawing by Charlène Letenneur (MNHN)]

The approximately 55-million-year-old fossilized dental remains found in the first lower Eocene levels of the Ouled Abdoun phosphate basin in Morocco represent two new species in the genus Stylolophus, the researchers report. The earliest embrithopods were previously known from 48-million-year-old fossils collected in Africa and Turkey.

"The embrithopods were large and strange extinct mammals that belonged, together with hyraxes and elephants, to the early megaherbivorous mammalian fauna that inhabited the island Africa, well before the arrival about 23 million years ago of the Eurasian ungulate lineages such as the artiodactyls, including giraffes, buffalos, hippopotamus, and antelopes, and the perissodactyls, including zebras and rhinoceros," says Emmanuel Gheerbrant of CNRS-MNHN in Paris, France. "They belong to the old endemic African fauna."

Gheerbrant said that the origins of embrithopods had been uncertain, with two known co-existing families: one in Africa and the other in Turkey and Romania. It's been unclear what the exact relationships of the embrithopods were with respect to sea cows and elephants.

The paleogeographic distribution of the Embrithopoda, and hypothesis of the African origin of the Embrithopoda and Palaeoamasiidae supported by discovery of Stylolophus  [Credit: Gheerbrant et al. Current Biology, 2018]

The new phylogenetic study of the two species of Stylolophus found in Morocco confirms that they are basal embrithopods. It also shows that the extinct Embrithopod order is ancient, predating the divergence of the sea cows and elephants.

"Comparative anatomy of the new Moroccan species shows that the highly specialized embrithopod teeth derived from the ancestral dental morphology of all paenungulates, a clade including elephants, sea cows, and hyraxes, with the W-crested molars seen in some of the oldest hyracoids," the group including hyraxes, Gheerbrant says. "The specialized design of the teeth with two transverse ridges, known in the most advanced forms such as Arsinoitherium, is a convergence of the embrithopods and the extant group of tethytheres, including manatees and elephants, towards leaf eating, which was favored by the ancient herbivorous niches available on the African island."

The new species S. minor--which was unusually small at about the size of a sheep--is also the first to show the presence in embrithopods of enlarged and anteriorly inclined incisors, in the form of incipient tusks, as seen in the early ancestors of the group including elephants.

View of the phosphate quarries in the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco, were was found  the new embrithopod Stylolophus minor, in the earliest Eocene levels (55 Ma) [Credit: Philippe Loubry (MNHN)]

The early age and primitive state of Stylolophus, together with the high-level relationships (paenungulate and afrotherian), all support an African origin of the order Embrithopoda, the researchers say. The findings suggest that the Paleoamasiidae family found in Turkey arrived on the Eurasian shores of the Tethys Ocean (an ocean during much of the Mesozoic Era and the Paleogene period located between the ancient continents of Gondwana and Laurasia), after an early dispersal of an African ancestor resembling Stylolophus across the sea.

The researchers say that they'll continue to search for paleontological evidence elucidating the evolutionary history and relationships of African ungulate-like mammals and insectivore-like afrotherian mammals, including golden moles, elephant shrews, tenrecs, aardvarks, and hyraxes. They'll also continue the search for the enigmatic early roots of all placental mammals in Africa, going back even further in time to the Cretaceous Period.

Source: Cell Press [June 28, 2018]

The smallest biggest theropod dinosaur

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on May 30, 2018 / comment : 0 Dinosaurs, Fossils, Morocco, Palaeontology

Spinosaurus is the longest, and among the largest predatory dinosaurs, and possesses many adaptations for a semiaquatic lifestyle. A tiny claw phalanx of the foot, discovered in Cretaceous-aged sandstones of the Sahara, shows a peculiar shape compatible with an early juvenile Spinosaurus. As reported in PeerJ - the Journal of Life & Environmental Sciences, the fossil is from the smallest known individual of this giant, sail-backed theropod. The findings suggest the small specimen retains the same locomotor adaptations as the large version - such as traversing soft substrates or paddling - during the entire lifespan.

Comfortably leaning on a thumb's nail, the new Spinosaurus fossil is only 21 mm long. The flat palmar side and the feebly curved profile of this ungual bone are highly diagnostic and show the same adaptation seen in the foot of adult specimens [Credit: G. Bindellini]

Collected in Morocco in 1999, a 21 mm-long pedal ungual phalanx (a phalanx supporting a claw of the foot) remained unnoticed in the Paleontological Collection of the Natural History Museum of Milan, until the recent discovery (2014) of a new partial skeleton of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, that preserves an almost complete right foot with peculiar morphology in the phalanges.

The striking similarities with the claw phalanges of the foot of Spinosaurus allowed palaeontologists Simone Maganuco and Cristiano Dal Sasso to identify the tiny bone to a very small and young specimen of the sail-backed Spinosaurus, the smallest individual reported up to today.

Size-comparison of relevant Spinosaurus specimens from Morocco: the baby MSNM V6894 (documented by the new fossil), the neotype FSAC-KK18888 (published in 2014), and the largest known individual MSNM V4047 (snout, published in 2005), compared with Homo (1.75 m tall). Spinosaurus was a semiaquatic, mainly piscivorous dinosaur with crocodile-like jaws [Credit: Marco Auditore and Prehistoric Minds]

"Besides the rarity of the fossils belonging to juvenile theropod dinosaurs, and the rarity of Spinosaurus bones, this finding is even more remarkable if we consider the dramatic size attained by some large specimens of Spinosaurus, which are possibly the longest, and among the largest predatory dinosaurs ever found"- says Maganuco.

Assuming the juveniles looked like smaller versions of the adults, the 21 mm-long claw phalanx from this small specimen would pertain to an early juvenile individual, 1.78 m-long, only just a little bit longer than the estimated length of the sole head of the largest adult Spinosaurus known to date, which is also housed at the Natural History Museum of Milan.

Face to face, the largest and the smallest specimens of Spinosaurus known to date. The reconstructed head is based on the 1-meter-long snout MSNM V4047, the baby is based on the tiny claw phalanx MSNM V6894. Both fossils are deposited at the Natural History Museum of Milan [Credit: D. Bonadonna]

According to recent studies, the broader than deep unguals in Spinosaurus with their flat plantar surface are reminiscent of the flattened pedal shape of shorebirds that do not perch, and the whole foot may have been adapted to traversing soft substrates or webbed for paddling.

"This find indicates that in Spinosaurus the foot of early juveniles had the same locomotor adaptations observed in large individuals, that were probably achieved early in ontogeny and retained for the entire lifespan", remarks co-author Cristiano Dal Sasso.

Source: PeerJ [May 30, 2018]

The dinosaur menu, as revealed by calcium

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on April 11, 2018 / comment : 0 Dinosaurs, Fossils, Morocco, Niger, Palaeontology

By studying calcium in fossil remains in deposits in Morocco and Niger, researchers have been able to reconstruct the food chains of the past, thus explaining how so many predators could coexist in the dinosaurs' time. This study, conducted by the Laboratoire de géologie de Lyon: Terre, planètes et environnement (CNRS/ENS de Lyon/Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University), in partnership with the Centre for Research on Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments (CNRS/French National Museum of Natural History/Sorbonne University), is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.

Teeth from the Gadoufaoua deposit (Niger). The scale bar represents 2 cm. From left to right: teeth of a giant crocodile, Sarcosuchus imperator, a spinosaurid, a non-spinosaurid theropod (abelisaurid or carcharodontosaurid), a pterosaur, a hadrosaurid (a herbivorous dinosaur), a pycnodont (fish), and a small crocodylomorph [Credit: Auguste Hassler/LGL-TPE/CNRS-ENS de Lyon-Université Lyon 1]

A hundred million years ago, in North Africa, terrestrial ecosystems were dominated by large predators—giant theropod dinosaurs, large crocodiles—with comparatively few herbivores. How were so many carnivores able to coexist?

To understand this, French researchers have studied fossils in the Gadoufaoua deposits in Niger (dating from 120 million years ago) and the Kem Kem Beds in Morocco (dating from 100 million years ago). These two sites are characterized by an overabundance of predators compared to the herbivorous dinosaurs found in the locality. More specifically, the researchers measured the proportions of different calcium isotopes in the fossilized remains (tooth enamel and fish scales).

Among vertebrates, calcium is almost exclusively derived from food. By comparing the isotopic composition of potential prey (fish, herbivores) with that of the carnivores' teeth, it is thus possible to retrace the diet of those carnivores.

The data obtained show similar food preferences at the two deposits: some large carnivorous dinosaurs (abelisaurids and carcharodontosaurids) preferred to hunt terrestrial prey such as herbivorous dinosaurs, while others (the spinosaurids) were piscivorous (fish-eating). The giant crocodile-like Sarcosuchus had a diet somewhere in between, made up of both terrestrial and aquatic prey. Thus, the different predators avoided competition by subtly sharing food resources.

Some exceptional fossils, presenting traces of feeding marks and stomach content, had already provided clues about the diet of dinosaurs. Yet such evidence remains rare. The advantage of the calcium isotope method is that it produces a global panorama of feeding habits at the ecosystem scale. It thus opens avenues for further study of the food chains of the past.

This study received support from the Labex Institut des origines de Lyon, the Institut national des sciences de l'Univers, part of the CNRS (through the Diunis project), and the Jurassic Foundation.

Source: CNRS [April 11, 2018]