Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of small lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur from two fossilized jaws found in Morocco.
An artist’s reconstruction of Taleta taleta. Image credit: Connor Ashbridge.
Taleta taleta lived in what is now Morocco during the Late Cretaceous epoch, approximately 66 million years ago.
“The Cretaceous period saw the final stages of the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea and high eustatic sea levels,” said University of Bath paleontologist Nicholas Longrich and his colleagues from Spain, France and Morocco.
“As a result, Earth’s land masses were fragmented to form a series of isolated island continents, leading to the evolution of distinct dinosaur faunas in different parts of the world.”
“Asia and North America were dominated by hadrosaurid and ceratopsian ornithischians, and tyrannosaurid theropods reigned as top predators.”
“In the southern hemisphere, titanosaurian sauropods were the dominant herbivores and abelisaurid theropods dominated as predators.”
“Although isolation played an important role in driving biogeographic patterns, it is increasingly clear that dispersal played an important role, especially towards the end of the Cretaceous.”
The two associated jaws of Taleta taleta were found in the uppermost Maastrichtian phosphates of Morocco.
“The phosphates of the Oulad Abdoun Basin, located in central Morocco consist of a series of phosphatic sands, marls, and limestones laid down in a shallow marine environment at a time when the North Atlantic extended inland to cover much of Morocco,” the paleontologists said.
“The phosphates span the Maastrichtian (72 to 66 million years ago) up into the Early Eocene (56 million years ago).”
Lambeosaurine dinosaurs were diverse in Morocco, with at least three species coexisting. Image credit: Longrich et al., doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2025.05.006.
Taleta taleta belongs to the lambeosaurine tribe Arenysaurini and its discovery brings the total number of arenysaurin species known from the phosphates of Morocco to three.
“The discovery of the first hadrosaurid from the Maastrichtian phosphates of Morocco, Ajnabia odysseus, showed that, despite being isolated by oceans, hadrosaurids successfully dispersed into Africa in the latest Cretaceous,” the researchers said.
“Close affinities of Ajnabia with the Arenysaurini, otherwise known only from Armorica, suggest that the clade dispersed from southern Europe.”
“More recently, a second arenysaurin, Minqaria bata, was reported from the same layers.”
“Minqaria bata differs markedly in the shape of the jaws and teeth from Ajnabia, suggesting specialization for distinct niches.”
“Recently, the associated upper jaws of a small duckbill dinosaur were discovered in the phosphates.”
“Remarkably, this specimen cannot be referred to either Ajnabia or Minqaria. Instead, it represents a third genus and species.”
“The striking variation in jaw and tooth morphology seen in African arenysaurins suggests a dispersal-driven adaptive radiation, with lambeosaurines rapidly diversifying to occupy new niches following dispersal from Europe into North Africa,” they concluded.
“The African radiation coincided with lambeosaurine decline in North America, emphasizing the highly regional nature of dinosaur evolution.”
The team’s paper was published in the journal Gondwana Research.
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Nicholas R. Longrich et al. A new hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Late Maastrichtian Phosphates of Morocco provides evidence for an African radiation of lambeosaurines. Gondwana Research, published online May 28, 2025; doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2025.05.006
