The Tendaguru Beds are a fossil-rich formation in Tanzania. It has been considered the richest of Late Jurassic strata in Africa. Continental reconstructions show Tendaguru to have been in the southern hemisphere during the Late Jurassic. Tendaguru is similar to the Morrison Formation except in its Marine Interbeds. The dinosaur life found there is similar to that of the Morrison, with the presence of dinosaurs with similar counterparts, e.g., Brachiosaurus and Stegosaurus in the Morrison, and Giraffatitan and Kentrosaurus in the Tendaguru.
Excavations[]
The Tendaguru Beds as a fossil deposit were first discovered in 1906, when German pharmacist, chemical analyst and mining engineer Bernhard Wilhelm Sattler, on his way to a mine south of the Mbemkure River in German East Africa (today Tanzania), noticed enormous bones weathering out of the path near the base of a hill.[2] Because of its morphology, the hill was locally known as "steep hill": "tendaguru" in the language of the local Wamwera people. Sattler sent a report of his discoveries that found its way to German palaeontologist Eberhard Fraas, then on a round trip through Africa, who visited the site in 1907 and with the aid of Sattler recovered two partial skeletons of enormous size.[3] The material was transported to Fraas' institution, the Royal Natural History Collection in Stuttgart, Germany. Fraas described two species in the badly known genus Gigantosaurus, G. robustus and G. africanus (today Janenschia robusta and Barosaurus africanus, respectively).[3]
German Tendaguru Expedition[]
The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin excavated at Tendaguru hill and in the surroundings for four years. From 1909 through 1911, Werner Janensch as expedition leader and Edwin Hennig as assistant directed excavations, while Hans Reck and his wife Ina Reck lead the 1912 field season. Other European participants include Hans von Staff. In the rainy seasons the scientists explored the geology of the colony German East Africa on long safaris.
British Museum Tendaguru Expedition[]
Vertebrate paleofauna[]
Possible dinosaur eggs have been recovered from the formation.[4]
Mammals[]
| mammals reported from the Tendaguru Formation | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images | |
|
Allostaffia |
A. aenigmatica |
|
Three isolated molars. |
||||
|
Brancatherulum[1] |
B. tendagurense |
|
Dentary without teeth. |
||||
|
Tendagurodon |
T. janenschi |
|
Single tooth. |
||||
|
Tendagurutherium |
T. dietrichi |
|
Partial dentary with damaged last molar. |
||||
Ornithischians[]
| Ornithischians reported from the Tendaguru Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
D. lettowvorbecki[2] |
|
"Large number of mostly disassociated cranial and postcranial elements."[3] |
||||
|
K. aethiopicus[2] |
|
"[Two] composite mounted skeletons, [four] braincases, [seven] sacra, more than [seventy] femora, approximately 25 isolated elements, juvenile to adult."[4] |
||||
Pterosaurs[]
Template:Paleobiota-key-compact
| Pterosaurs reported from the Tendaguru Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
?Indeterminate archaeopterodactyloid[5] |
|
Humerus.[6] |
Pterosaur fossils from Tendaguru | |||
|
Indeterminate azhdarchid[5] |
|
|||||
|
Indeterminate dsungaripteroid[6] |
Humerus.[6] | |||||
|
P. maximus[5] |
|
Later determined to be an indeterminate pterodactyloid.[5] |
||||
|
P. brancai [5] |
|
Later determined to be an indeterminate dsungaripteroid.[5] |
||||
|
P. arningi [5] |
|
Later determined to be an indeterminate pterosaur.[5] |
||||
|
R. tendagurensis[5] |
|
Later determined to be an indeterminate "rhamphorhynchoid".[5] |
||||
|
T. recki[5] |
|
A partial mandible with teeth. |
||||
Sauropods[]
Template:Paleobiota-key-compact
| Sauropods reported from the Tendaguru Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
A. bohetii |
|
Two neck vertebrae |
||||
|
B. gracilis[2] |
|
|||||
|
B. brancai[2] |
|
"[Five] partial skeletons, more than [three] skulls, [and] isolated limb elements."[7] |
B. brancai was distinct enough from the non-Tendaguru Brachiosaurus type species B. altithorax that it was moved to its own genus, Giraffatitan.[8] | |||
|
B. fraasi[2] |
Remains attributed to B. fraasi were later referred to B. brancai, and thus now Giraffatitan.[8] | |||||
|
D. hansemanni[2] |
|
"Skeleton lacking skull and forelimbs, [two] partial skeletons, isolated vertebrae, and limb elements."[9] |
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|
D. sattleri[2] |
|
"[Two] partial skeletons without skulls, isolated postcranial remains."[9] |
||||
|
G. brancai[2] |
|
The new genus Giraffatitan was erected to hold the former Brachiosaurus species, B. brancai after scientists concluded that it was distinct enough from the Brachiosaurus type species, B. altithorax, to warrant such a reclassification.[8] | ||||
|
J. robusta[2] |
|
"[Three] hindlimbs, [two] forelimbs, manus, [two] dorsal vertebrae, [and a] caudal series."[10] |
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|
T. tanzaniensis[2] |
|
"[Two] associated cranial dorsal vertebrae."[11] |
||||
|
T. africanus[2] |
|
"More than [three] partial skeletons, a few skull elements, [and] many isolated postcranial elements."[12] |
||||
|
Turiasauria indet.[13] |
Intermediate[13] |
Teeth.[13] |
Teeth potential indicating a turiasaurian sauropod; a group currently only known from Europe. Presence in the Lourinhã Formation also support that this group would be present here given the similarity of the two faunas.[13] | |||
|
"The Archbishop" |
||||||
Theropods[]
Template:Paleobiota-key-compact
| Theropods reported from the Tendaguru Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
?A. tendagurensis[2] |
|
A tibia.[14] |
Allosaurus tendagurensis bones, Naturkunde Museum Berlin | |||
|
C. roechlingi[2] |
|
"Quadrate, fibula, caudal vertebrae, astragalus."[15] |
Remains now considered indeterminate.[2] | |||
|
Indeterminate[2] |
|
|||||
|
E. bambergi[2] |
|
"Postcranial skeleton."[16] |
||||
|
Labrosaurus[2] |
L. stechowi[2] |
|
"Isolated teeth."[15] |
Remains later determined to be an indeterminate species of Ceratosaurus.[2] | ||
|
M. ingens[2] |
|
"Tooth."[17] |
Later determined to be an indeterminate theropod.[2] | |||
|
O. crassiserratus[18] |
|
"Tooth."[18] |
||||
|
V. milneri[19] |
|
"Vertebrae."[19] |
||||
See also[]
- ^ http://www.dinodata.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8707&Itemid=148
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedlatejurassicdistribution - ^ "Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 414.
- ^ "Table 16.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 344.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Barrett, P.M., Butler, R.J., Edwards, N.P., & Milner, A.R. Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas. p61-107. in Flugsaurier: Pterosaur papers in honour of Peter Wellnhofer. 2008. Hone, D.W.E., and Buffetaut, E. (eds). Zitteliana B, 28. 264pp.[1]
- ^ a b c Costa F. R., Kellner A. W. A., 2009, On two pterosaur humeri from the Tendaguru beds (Upper Jurassic, Tanzania), Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, vol.81 no.4 Rio de Janeiro Dec. 2009
- ^ "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 267.
- ^ a b c Taylor, M.P. (2009). Pp. 787-806.
- ^ a b "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 264.
- ^ "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 268.
- ^ "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 261.
- ^ "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 265.
- ^ a b c d Mateus, O., Mannion P. D., & Upchurch P. (2014). Zby atlanticus, a new turiasaurian sauropod (Dinosauria, Eusauropoda) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34(3), 618-634.
- ^ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 75.
- ^ a b "Table 3.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 50.
- ^ "Table 3.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 48.
- ^ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 78.
- ^ a b c d Buffetaut, Eric (2012). "An early spinosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru (Tanzania) and the evolution of the spinosaurid dentition". Oryctos 10: 1–8.
- ^ a b c d Rauhut, Oliver W. M. (2011). "Theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru (Tanzania)". Special Papers in Palaeontology 86: 195–239. doi:.