Taxonomy and morphological study on the vertebrate remains of Shark and rays fauna from the Middle and Late Eocene succession, Fayoum Depression, Egypt | ||
| Delta Journal of Science | ||
| Article 9, Volume 38, Issue 2, December 2017, Pages 219-233 PDF (6.17 M) | ||
| Document Type: Research and Reference | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/djs.2017.139461 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Abdelfattah A. Zalat; Hamza M. Khalil; Mohamed S. Fathy; Rana M. Tarek | ||
| Department of Geology, Fac. of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Well preserved vertebrate remains of Shark and ray fauna from the Middle and Late Eocene succession of Fayoum depression, at Gebal Qasr El-Sagha area have been documented and studied in details. Four stratigraphic sections are measured, described and sampled in the field at Hussein Wally Village, Birket Qarun, Qasr el-Sagha and Wadi el- Afreet. Lithostratigraphically, the studied succession is divided into three formations arranged from base to top into Gehannam, Birket Qarun and Qasr el-Sagha formations. This Eocene sequence provides by far the most complete view of the endemic African vertebrate fauna. Identification of the basic pattern of fish remains and taxonomic evaluation revealed that the recorded shark and rays taxa belong to 3 classes, 7 orders, 12 families, 18 genera, and 21 species. The identified taxa are macro-scale, collected on the surface, and known either from teeth or rostral remains. A taxonomic account and detailed morphologic description of the fossils shark, rays and bony fish teeth have been achieved. The depositional environments in the studied Middle-Late Eocene age sequence are interpreted. The abundance of recognized vertebrate fauna indicates environments varying from open marine shelf with low energy conditions to restricted marine shallow water conditions. However, the frequent distribution of macrofauna with intense bioturbation in sandstones of Birket Qarun Formation is a good indicator of restricted shallow water conditions. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Taxonomy; Vertebrates remains; Eocene; Stratigraphy; Fayoum depression | ||
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