Taleta Taleta

''Taleta'' (meaning "three") is an extinct genus of lambeosaurine ornithopod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian age) Oulad Abdoun Basin of Morocco. The genus contains a single species, ''Taleta taleta'', known from two upper jaw bones. It is the third member of the clade Arenysaurini found from this locality, after ''Ajnabia'' and ''Minqaria''.

Discovery and naming

The ''Taleta'' holotype specimen, MHNM.KH.1557, was discovered in a layer of the Oulad Abdoun Basin (upper Couche III, Sidi Chennane locality) of Morocco. The specimen consists of a partial left and right (upper jaw bone). The bones were found in association and exhibit comparable preservation and morphology, implying they came from the same individual.

In 2025, Nicholas Longrich and colleagues described ''Taleta taleta'' as a new genus and species of lambeosaurine hadrosaurs based on these fossil remains. The generic and specific names derive from an Arabic word meaning "three", referencing ''Taleta'' as the third hadrosaur named from the type locality after ''Ajnabia'' and ''Minqaria''.

Description

The ''Taleta'' holotype belongs to a small-bodied hadrosaurid, or 'duckbilled' dinosaur. As preserved, the incomplete right maxilla is long and includes sixteen alveoli (tooth sockets), but may have been up to when complete with 25 alveoli. The left maxilla is less complete, at long, generally overlapping with its right counterpart. The holotype is similar in size to the coeval ''Ajnabia'' and ''Minqaria'', the latter of which has been estimated at long. The bone texture on the maxilla suggests that the holotype likely belongs to a mature individual. While the maxilla of ''Taleta'' demonstrates anatomical features comparable to both of its contemporaries, it also has several unique traits that support its distinction. Most notably, the teeth are particularly large, presumably leading to a reduced tooth count in the upper jaw.

Classification

In their phylogenetic analysis, Longrich and colleagues (2025) recovered ''Taleta'' within the hadrosaurid clade Lambeosaurinae. It was found in a poorly-resolved Arenysaurini, in a clade also containing the coeval ''Ajnabia'' and ''Minqaria''. These results are displayed in the cladogram below. The authors observed that the ''Taleta'' holotype shares some features only with ''Ajnabia'', or only with ''Minqaria''. However, it also exhibits plesiomorphic (ancestral condition) anatomical traits. This may indicate that ''Ajnabia'' and ''Minqaria'' were more closely related to each other than they were to ''Taleta''.

Paleoecology

''Taleta'' is known from the phosphates of the Ouled Abdoun Basin of central Morocco. The phosphates preserve a nearshore marine environment dominated by mosasaurs, fish, and other marine animals. Dinosaurs are less common, but include diverse and abundant hadrosaurids, including fellow arenysaurins ''Ajnabia'' and ''Minqaria''. A right and left from these outcrops belong to larger unnamed hadrosaurids, likely close relatives of these genera. Other dinosaurs include the abelisaurid '' Chenanisaurus'' and an unnamed titanosaurian. A right and isolated may belong to distinct smaller abelisaurids. These animals lived at the end of the Cretaceous period (latest Maastrichtian), shortly before the Chicxulub asteroid impact and K-Pg boundary, the point at which the dinosaurs and many other groups went extinct.

Paleobiogeography

Hadrosaurids, the taxonomic group ''Taleta'' belongs to, were not known from Africa until ''Ajnabia'' was described in 2021. followed by ''Minqaria'' in 2024. Their closest relatives are lambeosaurines, all known from Europe. As such, oceanic dispersal between Europe and North Africa is considered the most viable explanation for the presence of hadrosaurs in Africa. Intermittent land connections as a means of dispersal could also explain this. Dispersal may have occurred via swimming, drifting, or rafting (on floating debris or vegetation clumps).

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q134604041, from2=Q134604044

Lambeosaurinae
Fossil taxa described in 2025
Dinosaur genera
Maastrichtian dinosaurs
Dinosaurs of Morocco
Taxa named by Nicholas R. Longrich