Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the Late Miocene (Vallesian) of Eastern Morocco (Guefaït-1, Jerada Province)

Abstract

The fossil amphibians and squamate reptiles from the late Miocene (Vallesian) of Guefaït-1 are described for the first time. The herpetofaunal assemblage is composed of Discoglossinae indet., Lacertidae indet., Dopasia sp. (Anguidae), Colubridae s. l. indet., and Naja cf. antiqua (Elapidae). This herpetofaunal assemblage is less diverse than the Moroccan herpetofauna from the middle and early late Miocene mainly because of the absence of Afro-tropical taxa, probably due to increasing aridity; likewise, it is less diverse than the Plio-Pleistocene herpetofauna, which was enriched by the entry of some European taxa during the Messinian Crisis. The presence of a discoglossine frog, different from all existing European and North African genera, in the late Miocene of Guefaït-1 suggests that the diversity of this group in the Miocene of North Africa may have been greater than previously thought. The occurrence of an anguid lizard of the genus Dopasia in the Miocene of Morocco is confirmed and may constitute the earliest record of the genus for Africa. The range of the cobra Naja antiqua, until now only known from the middle Miocene (Mellalesian) of Beni Mellal, Morocco, is extended; this constitutes the latest record of the species.