Open Paleo

Berberosaurus

Allain et al., 2007 BUHR-buh-SOR-us

From Berber (referring to the Berber people of Morocco, near where the fossils were found) + Greek sauros (σαῦρος) meaning 'lizard'; overall meaning 'Berber lizard'.

192.9–174.7 million years ago Pliensbachian–Toarcian, Early Jurassic
Early Jurassic stages

Berberosaurus is a genus of neotheropod dinosaur, possibly a ceratosaur, from the Lower Jurassic "Toundoute Continental Series" found in the Central High Atlas of Toundoute, Ouarzazate, Morocco. The type species of the genus Berberosaurus is B. liassicus, in reference to the Lias epoch. Berberosaurus might be the oldest known ceratosaur, and is based on partial postcranial remains. This genus represents the oldest formally identified theropod from the North of Africa, as well one of the few from the region in the Early Jurassic.

Diagnosis

  1. Highly pneumatic cervical vertebrae with anteroposteriorly short centra and camerate internal structure
  2. Cervical neural spine anteroposteriorly short
  3. Ventral margin of sacral series strongly arched dorsally with transversely narrow sacral centra
  4. Proximal end of the second metacarpal deeply grooved ventrally
  5. Femoral anterior trochanter reaches proximally to mid-point of femoral head with large femoral trochanteric shelf
  6. Oblique ridge that proximally caps the medial sulcus of the fibula; tibia with subtriangular distal profile

Species

Berberosaurus liassicus Allain et al., 2007

Type species

Named for the Lias epoch, the geological period from which the fossil was recovered.

Holotype
MHNM-Pt9 , Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Marrakech
Material
Partial skeleton.
Horizon
Pliensbachian–Toarcian, Early Jurassic , 192.9–174.7 million years ago
Locality
Douar of Tazouda, locality B, Ouarzazate, Morocco The type material comes from beds the literature calls the Toundoute Continental Series, which is a descriptive name rather than a formally erected unit. The succession sits on an allochthonous thrust sheet detached in Triassic evaporites at the southern edge of the High Atlas, so it cannot be traced laterally into the type area of any named unit. Allain and Aquesbi (2008) correlate it with the Toarcian Azilal and Wazzant formations, while Benvenuti and colleagues (2024) map it as part of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Iouridane Formation.

References

  1. Allain, R.; Tykoski, R.; Aquesbi, N.; Jalil, N. E.; Monbaron, M.; Russell, D.; Taquet, P. (2007). An abelisauroid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Jurassic of the High Atlas Mountains, Morocco, and the radiation of ceratosaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(3): 610-624. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[610:aadtft]2.0.co;2 allain2007a
  2. Allain, R.; Aquesbi, N. (2008). Anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Tazoudasaurus naimi (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the late Early Jurassic of Morocco. Geodiversitas 30(2): 345-424.

    Correlates the Toundoute series with the Toarcian Azilal and Wazzant formations.

    allain2008a
  3. Benvenuti, M.; Nesi, J.; Papini, M.; Risaliti, G.; Sani, F.; Moratti, G. (2024). Geology of the Toundoute Region (South Morocco): a window on the Early Jurassic-Cretaceous tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Central High Atlas. Journal of Maps 20(1): 2419456. doi:10.1080/17445647.2024.2419456

    Maps the bone-bearing beds as tentatively the Iouridane Formation.

    benvenuti2024a