A Miocene selachian fauna from Moghra, Egypt

• Published in: Historical biology Vol. 22; no. 1-3; pp. 78 - 87
• Main Authors: Cook, Todd D., Murray, Alison M., Simons, Elwyn L., Attia, Yousry S., Chatrath, Prithijit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 01-03-2010; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Carcharhinidae; elasmobranch; Elasmobranchii; Hemigaleidae; Hemipristis; ichthyofauna; Lates; Moghra; Myliobatidae; Myliobatis; Northern Africa; Sphyrna; Sphyrnidae; Tethys; Egypt, Arab Rep
• ISSN: 0891-2963; 1029-2381
• DOI: 10.1080/08912960903249329

The fossil bearing beds of Moghra, Egypt, have been well known for over 100 years, but the ichthyofaunas have not been examined since the early 1900s. Moghra, on the northern rim of the Qattara Depression, preserves early Miocene (18-17 Ma) fluvio-marine sediments with fossils of wood, invertebrates and vertebrates. The Moghra site is faunally similar to the Libyan Gebel Zelten site, at least in terms of the fossil mammals. The fossil-bearing localities in the Moghra Formation number about 40 and span a distance of about 50 km. There is likely more than one depositional environment represented. The fish previously reported from Moghra include two teleosts, Synodontis (Mochokidae) and Lates (Latidae), as well as the elasmobranchs, Pristis (Pristidae), Myliobatis (Myliobatidae) and Sphyrna (Sphyrnidae).
Several more recent expeditions to the Moghra localities recovered abundant selachian remains. This rich assemblage included species from the genera Carcharias (Odontaspididae), Megaselachus (Otodontidae), Cosmopolitodus (Lamnidae), Hemipristis (Hemigaleidae), Galeocerdo and Carcharhinus (Carcharhinidae), Myliobatis (Myliobatidae), Pteromylaeus (Myliobatidae) and Aetobatis (Myliobatidae). With the additional taxa from these collections, we can build a more comprehensive understanding of the Moghra fauna and environment.