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Naturwissenschaften
DOI 10.1007/s00114-006-0124-z
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Eric Buffetaut .Dany Azar .André Nel .Kamil Ziadé .
Aftim Acra
First nonavian dinosaur from Lebanon: a brachiosaurid sauropod
from the Lower Cretaceous of the Jezzine District
Received: 17 November 2005 / Accepted: 9 April 2006
#Springer-Verlag 2006
Abstract Two sauropod teeth from an Early Cretaceous
(Neocomian) fluviodeltaic sandstone near Jezzine (South-
ern Lebanon) are the first nonavian dinosaur remains to be
reported from Lebanon. Their distinctive character places
them within Brachiosauridae. The sauropod teeth from
Lebanon are a significant addition to the very scanty
dinosaur record from the Levant, which hitherto consisted
mainly of very poorly preserved and not easily identifiable
specimens. The Basal Cretaceous Sandstone of Lebanon,
thus, appears to be a potentially important source of fossil
vertebrate material.
Introduction
The published record of dinosaurs (sensu lato) from the
Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan) is
extremely scanty, being based mostly on specimens that
cannot be determined with any accuracy, so that this area,
like the Middle East as a whole, is still largely a terra
incognita in terms of dinosaur biogeography. The record
includes theropod footprints from the Cenomanian of the
vicinity of Jerusalem, Israel (Avnimelech 1966), a fragmen-
tary theropod tibia from the Late Cretaceous of the vicinity
of Damascus, Syria (Hooijer 1968), a small fragment of a
tibia, probably from an ornithopod, from the Maastrichtian
phosphates of Roseifa, Jordan (Martill et al. 1996), and
feathers from the Early Cretaceous amber of Wadi Zerqa,
Jordan (Kaddumi 2005,pp36–39). In Lebanon, birds are
among the various tetrapods known from the Cenomanian
sublithographic limestones of Nammoura (Dalla Vecchia
and Chiappe 2002), and feathers have been found in the
Early Cretaceous amber of Jezzine (Schlee 1973;Schleeand
Glöckner 1978) and Hammana, but no nonavian dinosaurs
had so far been reported. We describe, in this study, sauropod
teeth from the Lower Cretaceous of Southern Lebanon
which are the first nonavian dinosaur remains from that
country and, being identifiable to the family level,
considerably improve our knowledge of the Cretaceous
dinosaur faunas of the Middle East.
The material has been found in the Neocomian
sandstone of Southern Lebanon (Mouhafazit Loubnan El-
Janoubi), District of Jezzine (Caza Jezzine), in the locality
of Jouâr Es-Souss, and at the entrance of the villages of
Jezzine and Bkassine (Figs. 1and 2). The same outcrop
contains amber-bearing beds. This Basal Cretaceous
Sandstone (also known as “Grès de Base”) is considered
to have been deposited in a fluviodeltaic environment
(Maasaad 1976).
Description and comparisons
The material comprises two teeth (Fig. 3), one of which,
found in August 2005 by André Nel, is well preserved
while the other one, found in 1969 by Aftim Acra, is
incomplete. Both specimens are in the Natural History
Museum of the Lebanese University at Fanar, Lebanon.
E. Buffetaut (*)
CNRS (UMR 5125),
16 cour du Liégat, Paris 75013, France
e-mail: eric.buffetaut@wanadoo.fr
D. Azar
Faculty of Science II, Natural Sciences Department,
Lebanese University,
Fanar, P.O. Box 26110217, Fanar-Matn, Lebanon
e-mail: azar@mnhn.fr
A. Nel
Laboratoire d’Entomologie and CNRS UMR 8569,
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle,
45 Rue Buffon, Paris 75005, France
e-mail: anel@mnhn.fr
K. Ziadé
Pfizer-Lebanon,
Amine Gemayel Street, Awkar, P.O. Box 90-674,
Jdeideh, Lebanon
e-mail: Kamil.M.Ziade@pfizer.com
A. Acra
The Lakes Apartments, 5666 East Hampton Street,
Apartment 135, Tucson, AZ 85712, USA
e-mail: AcraAftim@aol.com
The best specimen (JAzar 1), shows the well preserved
crown and part of the root. It is 23 mm in height and 8 mm
mesiodistally. The crown is hardly broader than the root
and there is no significant constriction between them. The
root, which is oval in cross-section, can be distinguished
from the crown mainly because its surface is smooth,
unlike the distinctly wrinkled enamel of the crown. The
enamel wrinkles form low irregular ridges which become
fainter toward the apex (probably because of wear, as
described by Janensch (1935)inBrachiosaurus). The
crown is strongly convex labially, both mesiodistally and
apicobasally. The lingual face is markedly concave
apicobasally and convex mesiodistally. Thus, the crown
cannot be described as spoon-shaped or spatulate, as its
lingual face is neither concave mesiodistally nor signifi-
cantly broadened relatively to the root. The mesial margin
of the crown is slightly concave at the base and slightly
convex near the apex. The distal margin is convex at the
base and slightly concave closer to the apex. As a result,
when seen in labial or lingual view, the crown appears
twisted. The lingual and labial faces of the crown are
separated by blunt carinae. The mesial one is only faintly
marked, especially in the basal part. The distal carina is
more distinct, being separated from the convex labial face
by a well-marked groove, which extends from the base to
the apex. A mesial groove is also present, but much fainter
than the distal one. Close to the apex, the distal carina bears
faint, heavily worn serrations. The apex of the tooth bears a
large oval wear facet, sloping markedly in a mesiolingual
direction, which has completely removed the enamel and
exposes the underlying dentine.
The second specimen, (JAcra 1), is a fragment of a
broader tooth (14 mm mesiodistally), consisting of the
apical portion of a crown, broken above the base, and
damaged at the apex. The labial face is convex mesiodis-
tally and apicobasally, while the lingual face is convex
mesiodistally and slightly concave apicobasally. The whole
surface of the tooth is much abraded and pitted, the enamel
being largely worn away, especially on the lingual face, so
that no wrinkling is apparent. Both the mesial and distal
carinae are worn and blunt. At the level of the break, the
fragment is subcircular, with a small pulp cavity. The apex
is irregularly broken, so it is uncertain whether a wear facet
was present. On the lingual side, there is a more or less
circular and rather deep pit, probably corresponding to a
wear facet, as facets in a similar position occur, for
instance, in Brachiosaurus (Janensch 1935).
Fig. 1 The outcrop of Neocomian sandstone at Jouâr Es-Souss,
Jezzine District, Southern Lebanon, where the sauropod teeth
described in the present paper have been found
Fig. 2 Geological map of the
Jezzine area (Southern Lebanon)
showing the location of the
Neocomian sauropod locality at
Jouâr Es-Souss (adapted from
Dubertret 1950). J6 Kimmerid-
gian; J7 Tithonian; C1 Neoco-
mian; C2a Barremian (?)–Early
Aptian; C2b Late Aptian;
C3 Albian; C4 Cenomanian;
QQuaternary. Scale bar
represents 1 km
The teeth from Jouâr Es-Souss are different in size and
shape, but this may be the result of different positions in the
tooth row. The better preserved slender specimen is used in
this study for comparisons. The tooth can be described as a
rather simple, somewhat flattened and twisted cylinder,
indicating that it belongs to a sauropod dinosaur, a
conclusion supported by the wrinkled surface of the
enamel (a sauropod synapomorphy: Wilson and Sereno
1998). Although the tooth cannot be described as spoon-
shaped or spatulate, it differs from the typical peg-like teeth
of diplodocoids and titanosaurs, which are straighter and
more slender, with less strongly wrinkled enamel, and the
affinities of the Lebanese sauropod must be sought among
the “broad-toothed”sauropods. The “twisted”shape of the
crown indicates that the tooth is from the posterior part of
the jaw, as more anterior teeth have more symmetrical
crowns. The narrow and convex lingual face of the crown
distinguishes this tooth from the posterior teeth of most
broad-toothed sauropods, such as camarasaurids and
euhelopodids, in which the posterior tooth crowns are
broad and have a concave lingual face. The tooth from
Lebanon is strongly reminiscent of the posterior teeth of
brachiosaurids. In Brachiosaurus brancai from the Upper
Jurassic of Tanzania, the posterior teeth of the upper jaw
show the same twisted shape and their crown is not spatulate
(Janensch 1935, pl.XII, Fig. 1). Their enamel shows a similar
wrinkling and when worn, they bear an oblique apical wear
facet (Janensch’s“Terminal-Usurfläche”), as on the Leba-
nese tooth. The main difference is that on the tooth from
Jezzine the distal groove on the labial face appears to be
much more distinct than in B. brancai. The dentition of other
brachiosaurids is poorly known. Isolated teeth from the Early
Cretaceous Arundel Formation of Maryland (USA), for
which the name Astrodon johnsoni must be used (Carpenter
and Tidwell 2005), were described by Marsh (1888,p.90)as
having crowns which are “mainly compressed cones, and
not spoon-shaped”. Some of them closely resemble the tooth
from Jezzine (Lull 1911, pl.XIV, Fig. 8). Astrodon is usually
placed among the Brachiosauridae (McIntosh 1990;
Weishampel and Young 1996; Naish and Martill 2001),
although Carpenter and Tidwell (2005) referred it to a family
incertae sedis of the Titanosauriformes (a group which
includes brachiosaurids).
From these comparisons, the slender tooth from Jezzine,
probably from the posterior part of a left upper tooth row, can
be referred to the Brachiosauridae, although no identification
at a lower taxonomic level is possible. The broader tooth, to
judge from its apparently more symmetrical crown, is
probably from a more anterior location in the tooth row, and
both teeth may well belong to the same taxon.
Discussion
The teeth from Jezzine allow identification to the family
level and are, thus, more informative than the previously
reported dinosaur material from the Middle East. However,
they do not provide much new information about the exact
age of the Basal Cretaceous Sandstone of Lebanon, as
brachiosaurids are known from both the Late Jurassic and
the Early Cretaceous. All that can be said is that the
occurrence of a brachiosaurid is in accordance with the
Early Cretaceous (Neocomian) age of the Basal Cretaceous
Sandstone of Lebanon.
The ascertained geographical distribution of brachio-
saurids encompasses North America, Europe, and Africa
Fig. 3 Sauropod teeth from the Neocomian of Jouâr Es-Souss,
Southern Lebanon in the collection of the Natural History Museum of
the Lebanese University, compared with brachosaurid teeth. JAzar1
in mesial (a), lingual (b), distal (c), and labial (d) views. JAcra1 in
mesial (e), lingual (f), labial (g), and distal (h) views. IThe five
posteriormost teeth of the right upper tooth row of Brachiosaurus
brancai from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru (Tanzania) in labial
(above) and lingual (below) views, after Janensch (1935, pl.XII,
Fig. 1). JIsolated tooth of Astrodon johnsoni from the Early
Cretaceous of Maryland (USA) in (from left to right) labial, mesial,
lingual, and distal views, after Lull (1911, pl.XIV, Fig. 8). All scale
bars represent 10 mm
(Upchurch et al. 2004); in addition, an isolated tooth from
the Lower Cretaceous of Korea has been referred to the
Brachiosauridae (Lim et al. 2001). In the Early Cretaceous,
the region of present-day Lebanon was in the northeastern
part of Gondwana, on the Afro-Arabian plate. There is no
well-ascertained record of brachiosaurids in the Early
Cretaceous of Gondwana. The brachiosaurid “Brachio-
saurus”nougaredi (Lapparent 1960) from Algeria, con-
sidered as Early Cretaceous by Upchurch et al. (2004) and
Weishampel et al. (2004), in fact comes from beds which
contain Late Jurassic plants (Boureau and Caillon 1958;
Lapparent 1960). Early Cretaceous sauropods so far
reported from Africa (see Weishampel et al. 2004) are
either indeterminate or belong to other groups, including
primitive eusauropods and rebacchisaurids from Niger
(Sereno et al. 1999) and titanosaurs from Malawi (Jacobs et
al. 1996), to which the teeth from Lebanon cannot be
referred. By contrast, brachiosaurids are well represented in
the Early Cretaceous of North America (Upchurch et al.
2004), with taxa such as Cedarosaurus,Sauroposeidon,
and Astrodon, and are also present in Europe, with material
from the Wealden of England that is mostly fragmentary,
although a fairly complete skeleton still awaits description
(Naish and Martill 2001). However, the record of Early
Cretaceous sauropods from Gondwana is still too sparse to
conclude that brachiosaurids were not present there, and it
would be premature to suggest that the teeth from Lebanon
indicate Euramerican rather than Gondwanan affinities.
Conclusion
The brachiosaurid teeth from the Early Cretaceous of
Jezzine are the first nonavian dinosaur remains from
Lebanon. The only vertebrates hitherto reported from the
Basal Cretaceous Sandstone were small fishes from a
dysodilic level (Janensch 1924) and feathers (Schlee 1973;
Schlee and Glöckner 1978) and a lizard (Arnold et al.
2002) preserved in amber. The Lebanese brachiosaur is an
important addition to the record of dinosaurs from the
Levant, and more generally from the Middle East, which is
still very scarce (see above). We fully concur with the
remark of Martill et al. (1996, p.153), to the effect that “the
apparent scarcity (of dinosaurs in the Middle East) is
because so few vertebrate paleontologists have examined
the Mesozoic in this part of the world”. The Basal
Cretaceous Sandstone of Lebanon is one of the formations
which are likely to provide more information about the
elusive dinosaurs of the Middle East, a vast area which was
part of the northern margin of Gondwana and for which
continental biogeographical data for the Cretaceous are still
extremely incomplete.
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