Anoual Formation

The Anoual Formation is a geological formation in the High Atlas of Morocco. It is early Bathonian in age. It consists of two members. The lower member is several hundred metres thick, and consists largely of mudstone with lens beds of cross bedded sandstone, with thin intercalations of limestone that was deposited in a freshwater continental setting, likely lacustrine or palustrine, with small marine influences.^[1] The upper member is several tens of metres thick and consists of limestone deposited in a shallow marine setting. The formation is fossiliferous, with several of the limestone intercalations yielding a diverse fauna, including amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs and mammals.^[2]

Anoual Formation
Stratigraphic range: Early Bathonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Anoual Syncline
Sub-units	Lower Member, Upper Member
Underlies	Unconformity with Ksar Metlili Formation
Overlies	Pholadomya Marls and Limestones Formation
Thickness	~500 m (1,600 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Mudstone (Lower), limestone (Upper)
Other	Sandstone, limestone, marl (Lower)
Location
Coordinates	32.5°N 3.1°W / 32.5; -3.1
Approximate paleocoordinates	26.9°N 0.9°E / 26.9; 0.9
Region	Figuig Province
Country	Morocco
Extent	High Atlas
Type section
Named for	Anoual
Anoual Formation (Morocco)

Paleobiota

Brachiopoda

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Burmirhynchia[3]	B. gr. termierae-athiaensis	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated shells	A brachiopod of the family Tetrarhynchiidae
Kallirhynchia[3]	K. oranensis	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated shells	A brachiopod of the family Tetrarhynchiidae	Kallirhynchia specimen

Crustacea

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Asciocythere[3]	A. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the family Schulerideidae.
Bythocypris[3]	B. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the family Bythocyprididae
Asciocythere[3]	A. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the family Schulerideidae.
Cypridea[3]	C. cf. postelongata	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the family Cyprididae
Cypris[3]	C. spp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the family Cyprididae
Darwinula[3]	D. magna D. cf. leguminella	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the family Darwinulidae
Fabanella[3]	F. bathonica F. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the order Podocopida
Fastigocythere[3]	F. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the order Podocopida
Klieana[1]	K. levis	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the order Cytherideidae
Kinkelinella[1]	K. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater/Brackish Ostracod of the family Protocytheridae
Mantelliana[1]	M. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the family Cyprididae
Metacypris[3]	M. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater/Brackish Ostracod of the family Limnocytheridae
Paracypris[3]	P. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the family Candonidae. Dominant marine taxon
Pneumatocythere[3]	P.? juglandiformis	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the order Podocopida
Praeschuleridea[3]	P. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the family Candonidae.
Procytheridea[1]	P. sp.	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated Valves	A Marine Ostracod of the order Podocopida
Scabriculocypris[1]	S. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater Ostracod of the family Cyprididae
Theriosynoecum[1]	T. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated Valves	A Freshwater/Brackish Ostracod of the family Limnocytheridae

Mollusca

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Lymnaeidae[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Isolated shells	Freshwater snails
Nerineidae[1]	Indeterminate	Anoual	Upper Member	Isolated shells	Marine snails
Planorbidae[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Isolated shells	Freshwater snails
Provalvata[1]	P. sp.	Anoual	Lower Member	Isolated shells	Freshwater snail of the family Provalvatidae
Valvatidae[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Isolated shells	Freshwater snails

Fish

Abundant osteichthyan ichthyoliths are known. An isolated spine displaying characters seen in extant cypriniform or siluriform fishes has been recovered, alternatively can belong to a member of Myriacanthidae.^[2]

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Arganodus[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Isolated tooth plates	Lungfish	Arganodus reconstruction
Lepidotes/Scheenstia[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Isolated teeth and scales	Lepidotidae bony fish	Lepidotes reconstruction
cf. Ionoscopiformes[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Rhomboidal scales	Tentatively assigned to Ophiopsidae
Mawsoniidae[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Skull bones including a parasphenoid	Coelacanth
Osteoglossiformes[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Squamules (small scales)	The oldest record of the group

Amphibians

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Albanerpetontidae[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Incomplete premaxilla and incomplete frontal	Likely represents a new taxon
Caudata?[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Fragment of a dentary
Lissamphibia?[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Fragment of a maxilla

Turtles

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Testudinata[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Shell Fragments

Lepidosaurs

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Parviraptor[2]	Cf.P.sp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Four vertebral centra	Squamatan, previously identified as a stem-snake
Rhynchocephalia[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	One fragment of dentary bearing two incomplete teeth, one fragment of maxilla bearing the bases of two teeth.	Similar to the co-regional but younger genus Tingitana, but also to Clevosaurus.
Scincomorpha[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	A fragment of bone bearing teeth, potentially a fragment of bone bearing one complete tooth	Squamatan
Squamata[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Incomplete maxilla, incomplete dorsal vertebra, one proximal part of femur

Choristoderes

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Choristodera[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Fragmentary dentary, centrum of an anterior caudal vertebra, possibly centrum of a dorsal vertebra	Similar to Cteniogenys

Dinosaurs

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Ornithischia[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Tooth	Similar to Alocodon	Illustration of a fossil of Alocodon
cf.Stegosauria[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Poorly preserved tooth
Theropoda[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Several teeth

Pterosaurs

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Pterosauria[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Teeth	Similar to wukongopterids
Rhamphorhynchidae[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Teeth

Crocodyliformes

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Atoposauridae[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Teeth
Teleosauridae[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Teeth
Thalattosuchia[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Teeth, various skeletal elements probably belonging to a single individual
Theriosuchus[2]	Cf.T. sp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Teeth	An Atoposaurid

Mammals

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Amphitheriidae[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Fragment of right dentary of a juvenile individual with an anterior lower premolar and a replacing posterior premolar, fragment of an edentulous right dentary, probably middle-posterior part.	Both fragments probably belong to the same taxon
Dryolestida[2]	Indeterminate	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Fragment of a tooth bearing one cusp and one root

Charophyta

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Aclistochara[4]	A. africana	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Gyrogonites	A Characean algae of the family Characeae
Porochara[3]	P. hians	Anoual	Lower Member	Oogonia	A characean algae of the family Porocharaceae

Palynology

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Alisporites[2]	A. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Pollen	Affinities with the families Peltaspermaceae or Corystospermaceae
Araucariacites[2]	A. australis	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Pollen	Affinities with Araucariaceae inside Coniferae.	Example of extant Araucaria cones
Callialasporites[2]	C. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Pollen	Affinities with Araucariaceae inside Coniferae.
Classopollis[2]	C. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Pollen	Affinities with Cheirolepidiaceae inside Coniferae.
Cyathidites[2]	C. sp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Spores	Affinities with the family Cyatheaceae inside Cyatheales. Arboreal Fern Spores	Modern Cyathea, Cyathidites come probably from similar genera
Cycadopites[2]	C. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Pollen	Affinities with the Cycadopsida inside Cycadales. Pollen related with modern Cycas	Encephalartos, Cycadopites come probably from similar genera
Inaperturopollenites[2]	I. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Pollen	Affinities with the Pinidae inside Coniferae.	Extant Pinus Cone. Inaperturopollenites is similar to the pollen found on this genus
Ischyosporites[2]	I. cf. variegatus I. sp	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Spores	Affinities with Pteridopsida, likely derived from a member of Anemiaceae	Extant Anemia specimens; Ischyosporites probably comes from similar genera
Leptolepidites[2]	L. spp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Spores	Affinities with the family Dennstaedtiaceae in the Polypodiales. Forest fern spores.	Extant Dennstaedtia specimens; Leptolepidites probably comes from similar genera
Pityosporites[2]	P. sp.	Guelb el Ahmar	Lower Member	Pollen	Affinities with the Pinidae inside Coniferae.

Fossil Wood

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Agathoxylon[2]	A. aff. sahariense	Guelb el Ahmar Oued Metlili	Lower Member	Fossil Wood	Conifer fossil wood of the family Araucariaceae
Metapodocarpoxylon[2]	M. libanoticum	Guelb el Ahmar Oued Metlili	Lower Member	Fossil Wood	Conifer fossil wood of the family Podocarpaceae
Protopodocarpoxylon[2]	P. subrochii P. teixeirae	Guelb el Ahmar Oued Metlili	Lower Member	Fossil Wood	Conifer fossil wood of the family Hirmeriellaceae
Phyllocladoxylon[2]	P. atlasicum	Guelb el Ahmar Oued Metlili	Lower Member	Fossil Wood	Conifer fossil wood of the family Podocarpaceae

See Also

• Ksar Metlili Formation, from the Same area
• Guettioua Formation, coeval from the Azilal Region
• El Mers Group, coeval from the Skoura syncline
• Tafraout Group, older, from the Central High Atlas
• Azilal Formation, older, from the Central High Atlas