A new Gondwanan perspective on the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition from the Tithonian-Berriasian interval of southeastern Morocco

Abstract

Knowledge of continental faunas and floras from the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition in Gondwana, and especially in Africa, is limited. Here, we report the discovery of a rare assemblage of plants and aquatic reptiles from the Tithonian–Berriasian interval of the Anoual syncline in southeastern Morocco. Our preliminary field investigations led to the discovery of a disarticulated skeleton of a goniopholidid crocodylomorph, of a single fragment of a turtle plate, and of abundant plant remains, inviting further exploitation of the fossiliferous horizon. This assemblage indicates a freshwater habitat bordered by a lush moist conifer forest. Its taxonomic composition shows a strong similarity with better known contemporaneous Laurasian assemblages and stresses the paucity of coeval Gondwanan assemblages. Our discovery highlights that peri-Tethys continental assemblages may have shared common taxa and raises the question whether Laurasian and Gondwanan taxa from the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition were cosmopolitan, before they diverged later during the Cretaceous.