Exploration for Early Anthropoids and other Primates in Western Egypt

Final report Exploration for Early Anthropoids and Other Primates in Western Egypt Principal Investigator: Erik R. Seiffert, Stony Brook University

In October and November of 2008, a team of paleontologists that included myself, Dr. Patrick O’Connor (Ohio University), Dr. Joseph Sertich (then at Stony Brook University, now Curator of Paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science), and Dr. Hesham Sallam, now of Mansoura University) spent a total of four weeks exploring terrestrial and near-shore sediments of Late Cretaceous age in the Dakhla and Kharga Oases of western Egypt, with the goal of recovering vertebrate fossils. This team combined experts on mammalian evolution in Africa (Seiffert), dinosaur evolution in Africa (O’Connor and Sertich), crocodile evolution in Africa (Sertich), and Late Cretaceous stratigraphy of Egypt (Sallam). We were also joined by then-Ph.D. student Haytham El-Atfy of Mansoura University (now at the Senckenberg Research Institute, Department of Palaeontology and Historical Geology). Part of the impetus for this work was the prior publication of several studies of DNA sequences that estimated divergence dates for mammals, birds, and other vertebrates, and suggested that placental mammals (including primates) and modern birds (among other clades) might be expected in the Late Cretaceous fossil record of Africa and Arabia, a time and place in Earth history that remains very poorly explored. Our goal was to test these and other hypotheses by collecting mammals and other vertebrates from horizons in the Qusier Group of the Dakhla and Kharga Oases and the Duwi and Dakhla Formations in Dakhla Oasis. Originally proposed as a collaboration between Oxford University and the Egyptian Geological Museum, this work was ultimately carried out (and continues to be carried out) as a collaboration between Stony Brook University, Ohio University, and Mansoura University.

Our team managed to recover several important vertebrate fossils, some of which have been described in peer-reviewed publications (either already published, or in preparation) or were described preliminarily in podium or poster presentations at major international meetings of vertebrate paleontologists (see “Outcomes”). Our team single-

handedly expanded the vertebrate fauna from these deposits to include dinosaurs (saltasaurine titanosaurian sauropods and abelisauroid theropods), crocodiles (various

From left to right, Abdo Zedan, Joseph Sertich, and Patrick O’Connor scour a particularly productive area that was called “Crocodile Hill”; 2008, Dakhla Oasis. Image credit: Erik Seiffert.

Part of the collection of crocodile fossils from Crocodile Hill, 2008. Image credit: Erik Seiffert.

advanced neosuchian species, and, interestingly, none of the distantly related “notosuchian” crocodiles that were present on nearby Madagascar), mosasaurs (marine reptiles), and a

diverse assemblage of bony and cartilaginous fishes. Unfortunately, however, despite great efforts screen-washing for microvertebrates, no mammals (and thus no primates) were recovered. Indeed, despite several return trips since the initial Leakey Foundation-funded expedition, there are still no records of mammals in these deposits, suggesting to us that such species either were not present (or were exceedingly rare) in the Late Cretaceous of northern Africa, or were not living in the environments in which these sedimentary units were laid down. The latter is certainly possible, because all of the localities show signs of a marine influence, and it may be that we simply have not yet been able to sample the more terrestrial environments in which early primates might be more reasonably expected. The results are thus disappointing from a paleoanthropological perspective, but the Leakey Foundation can nevertheless be very proud to have funded a project that made important strides in several other areas. Much of the descriptive work on the fossils we recovered is in preparation, while work on the associated invertebrate fauna by Egyptian geologists at Mansoura University has helped to refine the ages of the fossil-bearing units. All of the fossils that were recovered have been deposited at Mansoura University in northern Egypt.

One of the most remarkable and unexpected outcomes of this grant is the creation and expansion of the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology division (or MUVP), which was created by my former student Dr. Hesham Sallam (also a former Baldwin Fellow) when he was a DPhil student at Oxford, and has since expanded quite impressively under his guidance as a Lecturer at Mansoura. Our exploration of the fossil-bearing sediments in Dakhla and Kharga served as the inaugural expedition for MUVP, and the fossils that we recovered were the first to be accessioned into their collection. These fossils in turn have formed the basis for several masters projects at Mansoura University (see “Graduate Students Trained�), and the resulting demonstration of such potential has led MUVP to be awarded several additional grants, some through the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (2010, SVP Preparator’s Grant Award to Hesham Sallam; 2013, SVP Institutional Membership Award to MUVP; 2014, SVP Scientists From Economically Developing Nations Travel Grant (SEDN) Award to MUVP student Sana El-Sayad). MUVP has grown from a single graduate student, in 2008, to be the largest training center for vertebrate paleontology in all of northern Africa, and arguably the entire Arab world. MUVP continues to attract students (notably a majority of which are female), and the group

organizes and carries out its own vertebrate paleontological expeditions all over Egypt -from the Western Desert, to the Fayum area (Jebel Qatrani and Wadi Hitan), to the Eastern Desert and even Sinai.

MUVP members participating in an excavation of the most complete sauropod dinosaur known from the latest Cretaceous of Africa, in 2014. This specimen was discovered in Dakhla Oasis and is yet another outcome of the original project funded by the Leakey Foundation.

MUVP members with the jacketed remains of the newly discovered sauropod dinosaur.

MUVP is now very actively involved in outreach activities throughout Egypt. The center is regularly visited by elementary, high school, and college-aged students, and members regularly give talks at Egyptian universities and science centers (such as “Discovery City” in Sixth of October City, outside of Cairo.

MUVP members showing a local group of high school students the jacketed remains of Late Cretaceous fossils from the Western Desert of Egypt.

Outcomes: Posters and talks at professional meetings O’Connor, P.M.; Sertich, J.J.W.; Sallam, H.; Seiffert, E.R. (2010) Reconnaissance paleontology in the Late Cretaceous of Dakhla and Kharga Oases, Western Desert, Egypt.

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30S: 141.

Sertich, J.; Sallam, H.; O’Connor, P.; Seiffert, E.; El Atfy, H. (2010) Vertebrate Paleontological Reconnaissance in the Late Cretaceous of Dakhla and Kharga Oases, West Desert, Egypt. Annual Meeting of the Paleontological Society of Egypt.

Youssef, M.; Sallam, H.; Friedman, M.; O’Connor, P.; Sertich, J. (2011) A saurodontid fish from the Late Cretaceous of Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31S: 218.

Holloway, W.; Claeson, K.M.; Sertich, J.; Sallam, H.; and O’Connor, P.M. (2013) A new specimen of Enchodus (Actinopterygii: Protacanthopterygii) from the Late Cretaceous of Egypt and its contribution to the Western Tethyan distribution of the genus. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33S: 144.

Sallam, H.M.; Sertich, J.J.W.; O'Connor, P.M.; Seiffert, E.R.; Faris, M. (2013) Vertebrate paleontology exploration of the Upper Cretaceous succession in the Dakhla and Kharga Oases, Western Desert, Egypt. Annual Meeting of the Paleontological Society of Egypt.

Peer-reviewed publications Claeson, KM, Sallam, HM, O'Connor, PM, Sertich, JJW (2014) A revision of the Upper Cretaceous lepidosirenid lungfishes from the Quseir Formation, Western Desert, Central Egypt. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34: 760-766.

Graduate Students trained Mai El-Amir, Masters student, Department of Geology, Mansoura University Eman El-Dawoudi, Masters student, Department of Geology, Mansoura University Heba El-Desouky, Masters student, Department of Geology, Mansoura University Sarah Saber, Masters student, Department of Geology, Assiut University Hesham Sallam, DPhil student, Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University Sana El-Sayed, Masters student, Department of Geology, Mansoura University Joseph Sertich, Ph.D. student, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University

Mohamed Yusuf, Masters student, Department of Geology, Mansoura University

Appendix 1. Fossils recovered on the Leakey Foundation-funded 2008 expedition to the Dakhla Oasis area. From O’Connor et al. (2010).

Appendix 2. Faunal list from the Leakey Foundation-funded 2008 expedition to the Dakhla Oasis area. From O’Connor et al. (2010).

Appendix 3. Vertebrate fossil localities discovered during the Leakey Foundation-funded 2008 expedition to the Dakhla Oasis area. From O’Connor et al. (2010).

Appendix 4. Summary of geological context, from O’Connor et al. (2010).

“Upper Cretaceous sequences in southern Egypt hold great promise for the recovery of fossil vertebrates that are necessary for rigorously evaluating recently proposed paleobiogeographic hypotheses related to terrestrial vertebrates at the close of the Mesozoic.

Sequences of the Quseir Group (Mut + Baris Fms.)/Quseir Formation, together with the Duwi and Dakhla formations, represent a mid-Campanian through Paleocene succession exposed throughout southern Egypt. Outcrops of these units are accessible in multiple areas

near both the Kharga Oasis and the Dakhla Oasis. The sequences include a variety of depositional environments, ranging from fluviatile and estuarine to numerous distinct marine facies, most of which preserve vertebrate fossils characteristic of their respective settings.

Quseir Group units (comprised of claystones, siltstones, sandstones) attain a maximum thickness of 70-90 m, with the Mut Fm. (locally exposed near Dakhla Oasis) preserving crocodyliforms, dinosaurs, turtles, and fishes. The late Campanian Duwi Fm. (“Phosphoritic Beds”) ranges in thickness from 5 –24 m and preserves diverse marine facies, whereas the Maastrichtian Dakhla Fm. preserves a variety of marine facies and ranges in thickness from 60 – 110 m. A number of vertebrate clades have thus far been either directly documented or referred to indirectly as part of geological reports. Although both the Duwi and Dakhla fms. are primarily marine in nature, each has also yielded terrestrial vertebrates (e.g., limited saurischian dinosaurs remains). Importantly, other than lungfish, the majority of terrestrial/freshwater vertebrates have been described from collections that were assembled following geological survey work, rather than by directed vertebrate paleontological survey efforts such as those conducted by our team.”