The Desert Bones: The Paleontology and Paleoecology of Mid-Cretaceous North Africa

327 Pages·2022·32.364 MB·English

by  Jamale Ijouiher

The Desert Bones
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Life of the Past James O. Farlow, editor
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T H E
DESERT
BONES
The Paleontology and Paleoecology
of Mid-Cretaceous North Africa
JA MALE I JOUIHER
Life of the Past James O. Farlow, editor Indiana University Press
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This book is a publication of Indiana University Press This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350 Manufactured in Korea
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA First printing 2022
iupress.org Cataloging information is available
from the Library of Congress.
© 2022 by Jamale Ijouiher
ISBN 978-0-253-06331-1 (hdbk.)
All rights reserved ISBN 978-0-253-06332-8 (web PDF)
No part of this book may be reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying and recording,
or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
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I want to dedicate this book to my mother, Jacqueline Ijouiher,
and my grandparents, David Brian Evans and Margaret Mary Evans.
I also extend that dedication to my former lecturer and
mentor professor Alan Turner of Liverpool John Moores University.
Great people who are truly missed.
This is for you.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
Museum Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
1. The Paleoenvironments and Stratigraphy of North Africa 7
2. The Flora of North Africa 31
3. The Fauna of North Africa: Invertebrates 59
4. The Fauna of North Africa: Vertebrates (Fish) 101
5. The Fauna of North Africa: Vertebrates (Tetrapoda) 151
6. North African Ecology 211
7. The March of the Oysters 241
8. The Cenomanian Mass Extinction 247
Appendix 257
Literature Cited 263
Index 305
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Acknowledgments
The list of people who deserve my gratitude seems endless, and some
(like Ernst Stromer) have been dead for decades and never even met me!
I thank Thomas Bastelberge, Oliver Demuth, Liz Kennedy, Casey Hol-
liday, Bruno Granier, Walid Makled, Marguerite Miller, Emilie Läng,
Omar Mohamed, Thomas Tütken, Olof Moleman, Markus Buhler, Ri-
cardo Pimentel, Guillaume Guinot, Michael Donovan, Jean-François
Lhomme, Neil Loneragan, Andrea Cau, Daniela Schwarz-Wings, Didier
Dutheil, Mike Taylor, John Adamek, Matt Lamanna, Hilda Silva, Cris-
tiano Dal Sasso, Wagih Hannaa, Mickey Mortimer, Aaron Miller, Lionel
Cavin, Hans Larsson, Bradley McFeeters, and Kenneth Lacovara for their
assistance in providing me with access to literature and specimens. If I’ve
missed anyone from that list, no slight was ever intended.
Worthy of special mention are the staff of Liverpool John Moores
University for their continued patronage and advice. My editor James
Farlow and principal reviewer Barbara Grandstaff, who share many of
the same interests and sparked many new ideas through our discussions.
My thanks are also extended to my former flatmates, whose friendship at
university made that period one of the happiest points of my life.
I would also like to thank Joschua Knüppe, Christopher DiPiazza,
Andrey Atuchin, and James McKay for contributing artwork and ideas
during the writing of this book.
And ultimately, I’ve got to thank my sister and aunt for their continued
love and support.
ix
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