The marine vertebrate faunas from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Syria

Marine vertebrate faunas from the latest Cretaceous phosphates of the Palmy rides Chain of Syria are described for the first time. Recent fieldwork in the phosphatic deposits of the Palmyra area (mines of Charquieh and Khneifi ss, outcrops of Bardeh, Soukkari and Soukhneh) have yielded a rich and dive rsified assemblage of marine vertebrates, including more than 50 species of chondrichthyes, osteichthyes, squamates, chelonians, plesiosaurians and cr ocodilians. Selachians are the most abundant and diverse component of the f aunas and are represented by at least 34 species of both sharks and rays. A ctinopterygians include representatives of six families, the most common be ing the enchodontids. Squamates are known by six mosasaurid species and an indeterminate varanoid. Chelonians are represented by at least two bothremy dids and two chelonioids. Finally, elasmosaurid plesiosaurs and indetermina te crocodilians are also present in the fossil assemblages. The difference in faunal composition observed between the sites is interpreted as being du e to palaeoecological preferences related to the Hamad Uplift palaeostructu re. The marine vertebrate faunas of Syria show close affinities with those of the latest Cretaceous phosphatic deposits of North Africa and the Middle East and are typical of the southern Tethyan realm. From a biostratigraphi cal point of view, the selachians are the only suitable material to provide elements of an answer to the long debated question of the age of the Syria n Senonian phosphates. They suggest an Early Maastrichtian age for most of the phosphates of the Palmyrides Chain.