Gadoufaoua
Encyclopedia
Gadoufaoua is a site in the Tenere
desert of Niger
known for its extensive fossil
graveyard, where remains of Sarcosuchus imperator, popularly known as SuperCroc, have been found (by Paul Sereno
in 1997, for example), including vertebrae, limb bones, armor plates, jaws, and a nearly complete 6-foot (1.8 m) skull.
Gadoufaoua is very hot and dry. However, it is supposed that millions of years ago, Gadoufaoua had trees, plants and wide rivers. The river covered the remains of dead animals, the fossilized remains of which were protected by the drying rivers over the centuries.
Ténéré
The Ténéré is a desert region in the south central Sahara. It comprises a vast plain of sand stretching from northeastern Niger into western Chad, occupying an area of over...
desert of Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
known for its extensive fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
graveyard, where remains of Sarcosuchus imperator, popularly known as SuperCroc, have been found (by Paul Sereno
Paul Sereno
Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger...
in 1997, for example), including vertebrae, limb bones, armor plates, jaws, and a nearly complete 6-foot (1.8 m) skull.
Gadoufaoua is very hot and dry. However, it is supposed that millions of years ago, Gadoufaoua had trees, plants and wide rivers. The river covered the remains of dead animals, the fossilized remains of which were protected by the drying rivers over the centuries.