Overview of the Late Triassic (Carnian) actinopterygian fauna from the Argana Basin (Morocco)

Bouziane Khalloufi,Nour-Eddine Jalil

doi:10.5802/crgeos.34

Abstract

Overview of the Late Triassic (Carnian) actinopterygian fauna from the Argana Basin (Morocco)

Highlights

In North Africa, the Argana Basin, or Argana Corridor, provides exceptional exposures of Permian to Upper Triassic continental fluvial-dominated sediments deposited in a rift basin
Mauritanichthys rugosus can be referred to Redfieldiiformes based on the presence of a single plate-like branchiostegal ray, hatchet-shaped preopercle, large and rectangular dermopterotic, rectangular dermosphenotic, skull bones and snout ornamented with tubercles and ridges
In I. bancrofti, the dorsal fin front is nearly opposite to the anal fin front, which is considered by Xu [2020] as a derived feature supporting the clade formed by the Pholidopleuriformes and Redfieldiiformes

Summary

Introduction

In North Africa, the Argana Basin, or Argana Corridor, provides exceptional exposures of Permian to Upper Triassic continental fluvial-dominated sediments deposited in a rift basin. Ostracods and abundant and diversified vertebrates represented both by isolated or articulated bone remains and ichnofossils [Dutuit, 1976, Jalil, 1999, Jalil and Janvier, 2005, Jalil and Peyer, 2007, Khaldoune et al, 2017, Klein et al, 2010, Lagnaoui et al, 2012, Medina et al, 2001, Tourani et al, 2010, Zouheir et al, 2020] They offer the most important Permian-Triassic vertebrate fauna of North Africa. Actinopterygians are Late Triassic (Carnian) in age and, except isolated scales, are all from the so-called locality XI of Dutuit [1976], at the base of the unit T5 [Dutuit, 1976, Khaldoune et al, 2017, Khalloufi et al, 2017, Martin, 1979a, 1980b,a, 1982]

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion