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The Tendaguru Formation, or Tendaguru Beds are a highly fossiliferous
formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
and
Lagerstätte A Lagerstätte (, from '' Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues. These f ...
located in the
Lindi Region Lindi Region (''Mkoa wa Lindi'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Sri Lanka. The regional capital is the ...
of southeastern
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
. The formation represents the oldest sedimentary unit of the
Mandawa Basin Mandawa is a town in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan in India. It is part of Shekhawati region. Mandawa is located at . It has an average elevation of 316 metres (1036 ft). History The town of Mandawa was a thikana of Jaipur Sta ...
, overlying
Neoproterozoic The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1 billion to 538.8 million years ago. It is the last era of the Precambrian Supereon and the Proterozoic Eon; it is subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran periods. It is prec ...
basement A basement or cellar is one or more Storey, floors of a building that are completely or partly below the storey, ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, ...
, separating by a long hiatus and
unconformity An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval ...
. The formation reaches a total sedimentary thickness of more than . The formation ranges in age from the late
Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively ...
to the
Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145& ...
, Oxfordian to
Hauterivian The Hauterivian is, in the geologic timescale, an age in the Early Cretaceous Epoch or a stage in the Lower Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 132.9 ± 2 Ma and 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago). The Hauterivian is preceded by th ...
stages, with the base of the formation possibly extending into the Callovian. The Tendaguru Formation is subdivided into six members; from oldest to youngest Lower Dinosaur Member, the ''Nerinella'' Member, the Middle Dinosaur Member, ''Indotrigonia africana'' Member, the Upper Dinosaur Member, and the ''Rutitrigonia bornhardti-schwarzi'' Member. The succession comprises a sequence of
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...
s,
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especiall ...
s,
siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, ...
s, conglomerates with minor oolitic
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
s, deposited in an overall shallow marine to
coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Co ...
environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
, characterized by tidal,
fluvial In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...
and lacustrine influence with a
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...
deposit occurring in the ''Indotrigonia africana'' Member. The climate of the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous was semi-arid with seasonal rainfall and the eustatic sea level was rising in the Late Jurassic from low levels in the Middle Jurassic. Paleogeographical reconstructions show the Tendaguru area was located in the subtropical southern hemisphere during the Late Jurassic. The Tendaguru Formation is considered the richest
Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...
strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as e ...
in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. The formation has provided a wealth of fossils of different groups; early mammaliaforms, several
genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
of
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s, crocodyliforms,
amphibian Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbo ...
s,
fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...
,
invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chorda ...
s and
flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...
. More than of material was shipped to Germany during early excavations in the early twentieth century. The faunal assemblage of the Tendaguru is similar to the
Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltston ...
of the central-western United States, with an additional marine interbed fauna not present in the Morrison. The dinosaur fauna found in the formation is similar to that of other highly fossiliferous stratigraphic units of the Late Jurassic; among others the Kimmeridge and Oxford Clays of
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, the
Sables de Glos The Les Sables de Glos Formation is a sandy Jurassic-age geologic formation in France. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus.Weishampel, et ...
, Argiles d'Octeville, Marnes de Bléville of
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the Alcobaça, Guimarota and Lourinhã Formations of
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
, the Villar del Arzobispo Formation of
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, the Shishugou, Kalazha and Shangshaximiao Formations in China, the
Toqui Formation The Toqui Formation is a geological formation in the Aysén Region of southern Chile. It has been dated to the Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic by uranium–lead dating of zircons, providing an age of 147 ± 0.1 Ma. It consists of an sequenc ...
of Chile and Cañadón Calcáreo Formation and the Morrison Formation, with the presence of dinosaurs with similar counterparts, e.g., ''
Brachiosaurus ''Brachiosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about 154to 150million years ago. It was first Species description, described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 in pal ...
'' and ''
Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fou ...
'' in the Morrison, and '' Giraffatitan'' and '' Kentrosaurus'' in the Tendaguru.Mateus, 2006, pp.223–232


Description

The Tendaguru Formation represents the oldest sedimentary unit in the
Mandawa Basin Mandawa is a town in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan in India. It is part of Shekhawati region. Mandawa is located at . It has an average elevation of 316 metres (1036 ft). History The town of Mandawa was a thikana of Jaipur Sta ...
, directly overlying
Neoproterozoic The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1 billion to 538.8 million years ago. It is the last era of the Precambrian Supereon and the Proterozoic Eon; it is subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran periods. It is prec ...
basement A basement or cellar is one or more Storey, floors of a building that are completely or partly below the storey, ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, ...
consisting of
gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...
. The contact contains a large hiatus, a missing sequence of stratigraphy, spanning the Paleozoic, Triassic and Early Jurassic. The formation is unconformably overlain by late
Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145& ...
sediments of the Makonde Formation, that forms the top of several plateaus; Namunda, Rondo, Noto, and Likonde-Kitale.Bussert et al., 2009, p.154 Based on extended geological and paleontological observations the "Tendaguruschichten" (Tendaguru Beds) were defined by Werner Janensch as expedition leader and
Edwin Hennig Edwin Hennig (27 April 1882 – 12 November 1977) was a German paleontologist. Career Edwin Hennig was one of five children of a merchant who died when Hennig was 10 years old. Starting in 1902, Hennig studied natural sciences, anthropolog ...
in 1914 to define a sequence of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous strata, exposed in the Tendaguru area, which is named after Tendaguru Hill.Bussert et al., 2009, p.142


Stratigraphy

The Tendaguru is divided into 6 members, which represent different
depositional environment In geology, depositional environment or sedimentary environment describes the combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes associated with the deposition of a particular type of sediment and, therefore, the rock types that will be ...
s, with the 'Dinosaur Beds' representing terrestrial
facies In geology, a facies ( , ; same pronunciation and spelling in the plural) is a body of rock with specified characteristics, which can be any observable attribute of rocks (such as their overall appearance, composition, or condition of formatio ...
while the beds with genus/species names represent marine interbeds with shallow marine to
lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...
al facies. In ascending order these are: the Lower Dinosaur Member, the ''Nerinella'' Member, the Middle Dinosaur Member, ''Indotrigonia africana'' Member, the Upper Dinosaur Member, and the ''Rutitrigonia bornhardti-schwarzi'' Member.Schwarz-Wings & Böhm, 2014, p.82


Paleogeography and depositional environment


Paleogeography

The Tendaguru Formation was deposited in the
Mandawa Basin Mandawa is a town in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan in India. It is part of Shekhawati region. Mandawa is located at . It has an average elevation of 316 metres (1036 ft). History The town of Mandawa was a thikana of Jaipur Sta ...
, a post-
Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ex ...
,Muhongo, 2013, p.28
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
rift basin located between the
Ruvu Basin Ruvu may refer to: * Ruvu River, a river in Morogoro and Pwani Regions of eastern Tanzania * River Ruvu, a source of the Pangani River or Jipe Ruvu in northeastern Tanzania * Ruvu, Kibaha District, a town in Tanzania * Ruvu Ward in Same District ...
and
Rufiji Trough Rufiji may refer to: * Rufiji Delta, a region in Tanzania * Rufiji District, in the Pwani Region of Tanzania * Rufiji River The Rufiji River lies entirely within Tanzania. It is also the largest and longest river in the country. The river is f ...
to the north and the
Ruvuma Basin Ruvuma River, formerly also known as the Rovuma River, is a river in the African Great Lakes region. During the greater part of its course, it forms the border between Tanzania and Mozambique (in Mozambique known as ''Rio Rovuma''). The river is ...
to the south.Muhongo, 2013, p.8 To the west of the basin,
Archean The Archean Eon ( , also spelled Archaean or Archæan) is the second of four geologic eons of Earth's history, representing the time from . The Archean was preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozoic. The Earth during the Arc ...
and Early Proterozoic basement rocks crop out.Muhongo, 2013, p.33 The main rift phase in present-day southeastern Africa led to the separation of
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...
and the then-connected
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
happened during the Early Cretaceous.Muhongo, 2013, p.3 The Songo Songo and Kiliwani gas fields are located just offshore the basin.Muhongo, 2013, p.17Muhongo, 2013, p.22 At time of deposition was undergoing a semi-arid climate with coastal influences that maintained somewhat higher moisture levels than seen inland.Noto & Grossmann, 2010, p.7 The upper parts of the formation, the Middle Dinosaur and ''Rutitrigonia bornhardti-schwarzi'' Members in particular, showed prevailing semiarid conditions with pronounced dry seasons, based on palynologic analysis.Schrank, 1999, p.181 The Tendaguru fauna was stable through the Late Jurassic.Noto & Grossmann, 2010, p.9 During the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, the
Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final sta ...
paleocontinent was breaking up and the separation of the
Laurasia Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pa ...
n and Gondwana supercontinents resulted from the connection of the
Tethys Ocean The Tethys Ocean ( el, Τηθύς ''Tēthús''), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean that covered most of the Earth during much of the Mesozoic Era and early Cenozoic Era, located between the ancient continents ...
with the proto-Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. In addition, the
South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe a ...
developed towards the end of the Late Jurassic with the separation of South America and Africa. Africa became increasingly isolated from most other continents by marine barriers from the Kimmeridgian into the Early Cretaceous, but retained a continental connection with South America. Global sea levels dropped significantly in the Early Jurassic and remained low through the Middle Jurassic but rose considerably towards the Late Jurassic, deepening the marine
trenches A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from erosi ...
between continents.Arratia et al., 2002, p.227


Depositional environment

The sedimentary rocks and fossils record a repeated shift from shallow marine to tidal flat environments indicating that the strata of the Tendaguru Formation were deposited near an oscillating strandline which was controlled by sea level changes. The three dinosaur-bearing members are continental to marginal marine and the three sandstone-dominated members are marginal marine in origin.Bussert et al., 2009, p.168 ;''Nerinella'' Member The composition of benthic molluscs and foraminifera, euhaline to mesohaline ostracods, and dinoflagellate assemblages indicate marine, shallow water conditions for the ''Nerinella'' Member, in particular for the lower part. Sedimentation occurred as tidal channel fills, subtidal and tidal
sand bar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...
s, minor storm layers (
tempestite Tempestites are storm deposits that can be recognized throughout the geologic record. They are studied in the scientific disciplines of sedimentary geology and paleotempestology. The deposits derive their meaning from the word ''tempest'', a vi ...
s), and beach deposits. Overall, the ''Nerinella'' Member represents a variety of shallow subtidal to lower intertidal environments influenced by tides and storms.Bussert et al., 2009, p.167 ;Middle Dinosaur Member The sedimentological characteristics of the basal part of the Middle Dinosaur Member suggest deposition on tidal flats and in small tidal channels of a
lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...
al paleoenvironment. The ostracod '' Bythocypris sp.'' from the member indicates polyhaline to euhaline conditions. Slightly higher up, a faunal sample dominated by the bivalve '' Eomiodon'' and an ostracod assemblage composed of
brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...
to freshwater taxa is indicative of a brackish water paleoenvironment with distinct influx of freshwater as revealed by the nonmarine ostracod genus '' Cypridea'', charophytes, and other freshwater
algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular micr ...
. The paleoenvironment of the ostracod assemblages of the Middle Dinosaur Member changed upsection from a marine setting in the basal parts through alternating marine-brackish conditions to freshwater conditions in the higher parts of this member. The highly sporadic occurrence, in this part of the section, of molluscs typical of marginal marine habitats indicates only a very weak marine influence, at sabkha-like coastal plains with ephemeral brackish lakes and ponds are recorded in the upper part of the Middle Dinosaur Member. This part also contains pedogenic calcretes indicating subaerial exposure and the onset of soil formation. The calcrete intraclasts within adjacent sandstone beds testify to erosive reworking of calcrete horizons.Aberhan et al., 2002, p.32 The presence of crocodyilforms indicates freshwater to littoral environments and adjacent terrestrial areas.Aberhan et al., 2002, p.33 ;''Indotrigonia africana'' Member The coarse-grained sandstone of the lower part of the ''Indotrigonia africana'' Member that shows highly variable transport directions is interpreted as deposits of large tidal channels. Grain-size, large-scale sedimentary structures, and the lack of both
trace fossil A trace fossil, also known as an ichnofossil (; from el, ἴχνος ''ikhnos'' "trace, track"), is a fossil record of biological activity but not the preserved remains of the plant or animal itself. Trace fossils contrast with body fossils, ...
s and epifaunal and infaunal body fossils suggest high water energy and frequent reworking. This basal succession passes upward in cross-bedded sandstone and minor siltstone and claystone with flaser or lenticular bedding that are interpreted as tidal flat and tidal channel deposits. Horizontal to low-angle cross-bedded, fine-grained sandstone with intercalated bivalve pavements indicates tidal currents that operated in small flood and ebb tidal deltas and along the coast. Stacked successions of trough cross-bedded, medium- to coarse-grained sandstone of the upper part of the ''Indotrigonia africana'' Member are interpreted as tidal channel and sand bar deposits. At some places in the surroundings of Tendaguru Hill, these sediments interfinger with oolitic
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
layers that represent high-energy ooid
shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...
s. In the Tingutinguti stream section, the ''Indotrigonia africana'' Member exhibits several up to thick, poorly sorted, conglomeratic sandstone beds. They contain
mud clast A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...
s, reworked
concretion A concretion is a hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular ...
s and/or accumulations of thick-shelled bivalves (mainly '' Indotrigonia africana'' and '' Seebachia janenschi''), and exhibit megaripple surfaces. These conglomeratic sandstone layers are interpreted as storm deposits. In the Dwanika and Bolachikombe stream sections, and in a small tributary of the Bolachikombe creek, a discrete, up to thick conglomerate in the lower portion of the ''Indotrigonia africana'' Member displays evidence of a
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...
deposit. Overall, lithofacies and the diverse macroinvertebrate and microfossil assemblages of the ''Indotrigonia africana'' Member suggest a shallow marine environment. Based on the diverse mesoflora and the abundance of '' Classopollis'', a nearby vegetated hinterland is postulated that was dominated by xerophytic
conifer Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ext ...
s. ;Upper Dinosaur Member The small-scale trough and ripple cross-bedded fine-grained sandstone at the base of the Upper Dinosaur Member is interpreted as tidal flat deposits. Unfossiliferous sandstone in the upper part was most likely deposited in small fluvial channels in a
coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Co ...
environment, whereas argillaceous deposits were laid down in still water bodies such as small lakes and ponds. Rare occurrences of the ostracod ''Cypridea'' and charophytes signal the influence of freshwater, whereas the sporadic occurrence of marine invertebrates suggests a depositional environment close to the sea. ;''Rutitrigonia bornhardti-schwarzi'' Member Fining upward sequences of the basal part of the ''Rutitrigonia bornhardti-schwarzi'' Member are interpreted as tidal channel fills, the overlying fine-grained sandstone, silt- and claystone as tidal flat deposits. From the immediate surroundings of Tendaguru Hill, invertebrates and vertebrates are poorly known and limit the palaeoenvironmental interpretation of this member. The composition of the land-derived sporomorph assemblage suggests a terrestrial vegetation which was dominated by cheirolepidiacean conifers in association with
fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...
s.


Excavation history

The Tendaguru Beds as a fossil deposit were first discovered in 1906, when
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
pharmacist, chemical analyst and mining engineer Bernhard Wilhelm Sattler, on his way to a mine south of the Mbemkure River in
German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mo ...
(today
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
), was shown by his local staff enormous bones weathering out of the path near the base of Tendaguru Hill, south of Mtapaia (close to Nambiranji village, Mipingo ward, northwest of Lindi town).Maier, 2003 Because of its morphology, the hill was locally known as "steep hill": "tendaguru" in the language of the local Wamwera people. Sattler sent a report of the discoveries that found its way to German
palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...
Eberhard Fraas, then on a round trip through Africa, who visited the site in 1907 and with the aid of Sattler recovered two partial skeletons of enormous size.Fraas, 1908 Following the discovery in 1906, teams from the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (1907–1913), and the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
(Natural History), London (1924–1931) launched a series of collecting expeditions that remain unequalled in scope and ambition. Led by the vision and influence of geologist Wilhelm von Branca, the German expeditions were particularly successful, in large part because the project was taken up as a matter of national ambition (Germany was then a young nation, having been unified by von Bismarck less than 40 years earlier) and enjoyed the benevolence of many wealthy patrons. Eventually, nearly 250 tons of bones, representing an entirely new dinosaur fauna that remains the best understood assemblage from all of former Gondwana, was shipped to Berlin.Cifelli, 2003, p.608 From there, the material was transported to Fraas' institution, the Royal Natural History Collection in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. Fraas described two species in the badly known genus ''" Gigantosaurus"''; ''G. robustus'' and ''G. africanus'' (today '' Janenschia robusta'' and '' Tornieria africana'', respectively).


German Tendaguru Expedition

The Berlin's Natural History Museum excavated at Tendaguru hill and in the surroundings for four years. From 1909 through 1911, Werner Janensch as expedition leader and
Edwin Hennig Edwin Hennig (27 April 1882 – 12 November 1977) was a German paleontologist. Career Edwin Hennig was one of five children of a merchant who died when Hennig was 10 years old. Starting in 1902, Hennig studied natural sciences, anthropolog ...
as assistant directed excavations, while
Hans Reck Hans Gottfried Reck (24 January 1886 – 4 August 1937) was a German volcanologist and paleontologist. In 1913 he was the first to discover an ancient skeleton of a human in the Olduvai Gorge, in what is now Tanzania. He collaborated with ...
and his wife Ina Reck led the 1912 field season. Other European participants include Hans von Staff. In the rainy seasons the scientists explored the geology of the colony German East Africa on long safaris.


Public discussion about provenance and restitution

In the context of international discussion about the provenance and possible restitution of colonial heritage, as discussed for example in the 2018 report on the restitution of African cultural heritage, both German as well as Tanzanian commentators have called the claim to rightful ownership by the Berlin museum into question. The Tanzanian government has, however, not submitted any official demand for repatriation. German authorities have preferred to offer information on the provenance and research by increasing cooperation between Tanzanian paleontologists and museums with their German counterparts.


In popular culture

In 1998, an illustrated book in Swahili, whose title translates as Dinosaurs of Tendaguru, was published for young readers in East Africa. It presents a slightly different, fictitious story of the first discovery, which is attributed to a Tanzanian farmer, rather than to the German engineer Sattler.


Paleontological significance

Possible dinosaur eggs have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel et al., 2004, p.552 The fauna of the Tendaguru Formation has been correlated with the
Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltston ...
of the central-western United States,Taylor, 2009, p.790 several formations in England, among which the Kimmeridge Clay and Oxford Clay, and France (
Sables de Glos The Les Sables de Glos Formation is a sandy Jurassic-age geologic formation in France. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus.Weishampel, et ...
, Argiles d'Octeville, Marnes de Bléville), the Alcobaça, Guimarota and Lourinhã Formations of
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
,Mateus, 2006, p.1 the Villar del Arzobispo Formation of
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, the Shishugou, Kalazha and Shangshaximiao Formations of China, and the
Toqui Formation The Toqui Formation is a geological formation in the Aysén Region of southern Chile. It has been dated to the Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic by uranium–lead dating of zircons, providing an age of 147 ± 0.1 Ma. It consists of an sequenc ...
of the Magallanes Basin, Chile and the Cañadón Calcáreo Formation of the Cañadón Asfalto Basin in central Patagonia, Argentina.Noto & Grossmann, 2010, p.3


Fossil content


Mammaliaformes


Pterosaurs


Ornithischians


Sauropods


Theropods


Crocodyliformes


Amphibians


Fish


Invertebrates


=Gastropods

=


=Bivalves

=


=Coral

=


=Ostracods

=


Flora


See also

* List of stratigraphic units with dinosaur body fossils * List of African dinosaurs * Manda Formation, Triassic fossiliferous formation of Tanzania * Usili Formation, Permian fossiliferous formation of Tanzania * Mugher Mudstone, Tithonian fossiliferous formation of Ethiopia * Ksar Metlili Formation, Tithonian to Berriasian fossiliferous formation of Morocco * Kirkwood Formation, Berriasian to Hauterivian fossiliferous formation of South Africa * Sundays River Formation, Valanginian to Hauterivian fossiliferous formation of South Africa * Bajada Colorada Formation, Berriasian to Valanginian fossiliferous formation of Argentina * Dinosaurs of Tendaguru, Book for young readers in Swahili


Notes and references


Notes


References


Bibliography

;Geology * Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
* Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
* ;Paleontology * Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
* * * * * Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{National Historic Sites of Tanzania Tendaguru Formation, Geologic formations of Tanzania Jurassic System of Africa Jurassic Tanzania Lower Cretaceous Series of Africa Cretaceous Tanzania Sandstone formations Shale formations Siltstone formations Conglomerate formations Limestone formations Shallow marine deposits Tidal deposits Deltaic deposits Lacustrine deposits Lagoonal deposits Paleontology in Tanzania Rufiji-Ruvuma languages