Considerations on the age of the Tiouaren Formation (Iullemmeden Basin, Niger, Africa): Implications for Gondwanan Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate faunas

Pre-Aptian mid-Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrates from the African continent are still very poorly known. In Niger, the Tiouaren Formation in the Iullemmeden Basin has yielded dinosaur and other vertebrate remains, and this unit has been dated as Early Cretaceous, most probably pre-Aptian, on the basis of its fish fauna and geological relations to other units in the basin. A review of the fish fauna and invertebrates from this formation does not...