Tazoudasaurus is a genus of gravisaurian, probably a vulcanodontid sauropod dinosaurs hailing from the late Early Jurassic (Toarcian), that was recovered in the "Toundoute Continental Series" (Azilal Formation) located in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco in North Africa. Along with Patagosaurus, Volkheimeria, Bagualia and Perijasaurus (as well maybe Barapasaurus and Kotasaurus) represents one of the few sauropods named from this stage on Gondwana, as well the only one from Africa.
Discovery and naming
Back in the early 2000s, several excavations took place in the High Atlas near Toundoute, in the Province of Ouarzazate, where a series 300 m thick continental redbeds are exposed. In these redbeds, two main fossiliferous localities were initially denominated "To1 site" and excavated in the Duar of Tazouda, a hill near Toundoute, separated 30 m from each other. The remains, consisting of the holotype, a partial adult skeleton and cranial material (specimen To 2000–1) including complete left mandible with teeth, quadrate, jugal, postorbital, parietal, frontal and exoccipital, as well an associated partial juvenile skeleton (specimen To 2000–2) found in continental detrital sediments of the Toarcian aged Azilal Formation, were described by Ronan Allain et al. in early 2004. The generic name derives from one of the localities, Tazouda, while the specific descriptor is a Latinization of the Berber term for "slender" due to the animal's small size for a sauropod. Latter work on the same area yielded new dinosaurian material, with the new localities, with the original yielding another juvenile, "To1´" (one adult, a subadult and a juvenile specimen), "Pt haut-Pt" (adult and the Ceratosaurian Theropod Berberosaurus) "O-R", with indeterminate amniote material and finally "To2", with a subadult Tazoudasaurus and a large-bodied theropod. By 2010, 10 specimens where know. Additional material of the genus may have been discovered before the excavations on Toundoute, as material recovered in the 40 to 80s at the east of the Azilal Village in the province of the same name, include gravisaur material very similar to Tazoudasaurus, composed of a pelvis and other indeterminate remains.
Tazouda Dinosaur Museum
The Tazouda Dinosaur Museum is dedicated to the beds where Tazoudasaurus was discovered. Some researchers, like Najat Akesbi, proposed the creation of a museum to house the local dinosaur fossils, as part of the "Dino Atlas" project. It is configured in complementarity with the Azilal museum and the M'goun Geopark to constitute what is called "the route of the dinosaurs".
Description
Tazoudasaurus is one of the most complete basal sauropods known. Several specimens, representing ten different individuals, have been found. Both juveniles and adults are represented. As of 2010, the sites were not fully excavated and many of the bones had not been prepared for study. The skull is represented by a few disarticulated bones and a nearly complete lower jaw from the holotype individual. The neck is known from eight cervical vertebrae, of which only three had been prepared as of 2008. Numerous dorsal and caudal vertebrae have been found. A single scapula and coracoid, not from the same individual, have been found. The humerus, radius, and ulna are known. The front foot is nearly completely known from a juvenile individual. The ilium, ischium, pubis, femur, tibia, fibula, and astragalus are all known. The hind foot is less completely known than the front foot, and its anatomy cannot be fully reconstructed from known material.
Tazoudasaurus, was a small sauropod at - long, is characterized by rather primitive features such as the prosauropod-like mandible with spatulate and denticle-bearing teeth, lack of a U-shaped mandibular symphysis as other more derived sauropods. Teeth wear in V-shaped marks indicates tooth occlusion, suggesting that vulcanodontids processed food orally when feeding. The frontal and the parietal are incomplete, the former being broken anteriorly and the latter posteriorly. The neck is flexible with elongate vertebrae that lack true pleurocoels while dorsal and caudal vertebrae series tend to be more rigid. T. naimi bears the most complete fossil skeleton for Early Jurassic sauropod remains found to date due to the scarcity of exposed strata of that age.