Coastal: >2,000 m (6,600 ft) Mountains: 500–700 m (1,600–2,300 ft)
The Sannine Formation, also called the Sannine Limestone, is a Cretaceous geologic formation in Lebanon. It is a Konservat-Lagerstätte that contains a high diversity of well-preserved fish, reptiles, and invertebrates from the Tethys Ocean within its three main localities: Haqel (alternatively Hakel or Haqil), Hjoula (alternatively Hadjoula, Hajoula, or Hgula), and Nammoura (alternatively Namoura).[1]
It is one of three major Cretaceous lagerstätte in Lebanon, alongside the older (Barremian-aged) Lebanese amber and the younger (Santonian-aged) Sahel Aalma site. The Sannine Formation localities, combined with Sahel Alma, are together referred to as the "Fish Beds" of Lebanon.[1]
Description
It is primarily Cenomanian in age, with Haqel and Hjoula being late Cenomanian, while the slightly older Nammoura site is middle Cenomanian.[1] Although Lebanon is now a part of Asia, the depositional environment for both formations would have been located off the coast of northern Africa during the Cretaceous, which would technically make their biota African rather than Asian.[2][3]
The Cretaceous formations of Lebanon laterally vary from east to west; the western lowland "coastal" sequence (containing Sahel Aalma) is over 2000 metres thick and primarily consists of deep water limestone and chalk, while the eastern "mountain" sequence (containing the Sannine Formation) is 500–700 metres thick and consists of shallow water limestone.[4] Two different shallow-water environments are preserved by the formation: Nammoura preserves a nearshore inner continental shelf environment with significant terrestrial input, while Haqel & Hjoula preserve an outer continental shelf environment. The neritic nature of these habitats contrasts with the other major marine lagerstätte of the region, Sahel Aalma, which is thought to have been deposited in a deepwater continental slope environment.[1]
The Sannine Formation and its fossil fishes have been known of since Roman Phoenicia. The earliest mention of them is in the Chronicon by Eusebius around 314 CE (references to earlier mentions by Herodotus are thought to be apocryphal), who mentions fossil fishes commonly being found during quarrying operations in the mountains, and cites them as evidence of the Biblical Flood. The site that these fish were recovered from is thought to correspond to the modern Haqel site. Around 1250, fossil fishes were presented to Louis IX during the Seventh Crusade and documented by Jean de Joinville, although it remains uncertain whether these originated from Haqel or the younger Sahel Alma site.[1][14]
The first European to visit a Lebanese fossil fish locality in person was Cornelis de Bruijn in 1698, who illustrated a fossil fish that corresponds with the species Prionolepis cataphractus from Haqel. The first scientific presentation on the fossil fishes of Haqel was in 1703 at the French Academy of Sciences, and the first scientific studies were conducted by Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in 1818. Lady Hester Stanhope collected and circulated fossil fishes from Haqel and Sahel Alma during the early 19th century, contributing to the study of these specimens by scientists such as Louis Agassiz. The Hadjoula site was only discovered in the late 19th century, and the Nammoura site in the early 20th century.[1][14]
"the occurrence of Mantelliceras mantelli is regarded doubtful, as this species has been used for various taxa within the family Acanthoceratidae de Grossouvre, 1894, and specimens have never been figured"[22][54]
^George, Hady; Bazzi, Mohamad; Hossny, Tamara El; Ashraf, Nida; Saad, Pierre Abi; Clements, Thomas (2024-04-29). "The famous fish beds of Lebanon: the Upper Cretaceous Lagerstätten of Haqel, Hjoula, Nammoura, and Sahel Aalma". Journal of the Geological Society. 181 (5). doi:10.1144/jgs2023-210. ISSN 0016-7649
^Kellner, Alexander W. A.; Caldwell, Michael W.; Holgado, Borja; Vecchia, Fabio M. Dalla; Nohra, Roy; Sayão, Juliana M.; Currie, Philip J. (2019-11-29). "First complete pterosaur from the Afro-Arabian continent: insight into pterodactyloid diversity". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 17875. Bibcode:2019NatSR...917875K. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-54042-z. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6884559. PMID 31784545
^Campbell Mekarski, Michelle; Pierce, Stephanie E.; Caldwell, Michael W. (2019-09-24). "Spatiotemporal Distributions of Non-ophidian Ophidiomorphs, With Implications for Their Origin, Radiation, and Extinction". Frontiers in Earth Science. 7: 245. Bibcode:2019FrEaS...7..245M. doi:10.3389/feart.2019.00245. ISSN 2296-6463
^Nel, Andre; Azar, Dany; Martinez-Delclos, Xavier; Makhoul, Edouard (2004-03-25). "A new Upper Cretaceous species of Chresmoda from Lebanon - a latest representative of Chresmodidae (Insecta: Polyneoptera inc. sed.): first record of homeotic mutations in the fossil record of insects". European Journal of Entomology. 101 (1): 145–151. doi:10.14411/eje.2004.019
^Cawley, John Joseph & Kriwet, Jürgen (2019-03-04). "A new genus and species of pycnodontid fish Flagellipinna rhomboides, gen. et sp. nov. (Neopterygii, Pycnodontiformes), from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Lebanon, with notes on juvenile form and ecology". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 39 (2). Bibcode:2019JVPal..39E4012C. doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1614012. ISSN 0272-4634. PMC 6817322. PMID 31709027
^Miyashita, Tetsuto; Coates, Michael I.; Farrar, Robert; Larson, Peter; Manning, Phillip L.; Wogelius, Roy A.; Edwards, Nicholas P.; Anné, Jennifer; Bergmann, Uwe; Palmer, A. Richard; Currie, Philip J. (2019-02-05). "Hagfish from the Cretaceous Tethys Sea and a reconciliation of the morphological–molecular conflict in early vertebrate phylogeny". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (6): 2146–2151. Bibcode:2019PNAS..116.2146M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1814794116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 6369785. PMID 30670644
^Pradel, Alan; Denton, John S. S.; Janvier, Philippe; Maisey, John G. (eds.) (2021). Ancient fishes and their living relatives: a tribute to John G. Maisey. München: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil. ISBN 978-3-89937-269-4.
^Jambura; Stumpf; Kriwet, Patrick L.; Sebastian; Jürgen (September 2021). "Skeletal remains of the oldest known pseudocoracid shark Pseudocorax kindlimanni sp. nov. (Chondrichthyes, Lamniformes) from the Late Cretaceous of Lebanon". Cretaceous Research. 125. Bibcode:2021CrRes.12504842J. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104842. PMC 7611798. PMID 34642522
^El Hossny, Tamara & Cavin, Lionel (July 2023). "A New Enigmatic Teleost Fish from the Mid-Cretaceous of Lebanon". Diversity. 15 (7): 839. doi:10.3390/d15070839. ISSN 1424-2818
^Cau, A. & Arduini, P. (2008). "Enantiophoenix electrophyla gen. et sp. nov. (Aves, Enantiornithes) from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Lebanon and its phylogenetic relationships". Atti della Societa Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Ivico di Storia Naturale in Milano. 149 (2): 293–324.
^Sylvain Charbonnier; Denis Audo; Alessandro Garassino; Matúš Hyžný (2017). Fossil Crustacea of Lebanon. National Museum of Natural History. pp. 1–252. ISBN 978-2-85653-785-5.
^Garassino, A. (2000). "New decapod crustaceans from the Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) of Lebanon". Atti Soc. It. Sci. Nat. Museo Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano. S2CID 88896292
^Garassino, Alessandro & Pasini, Giovanni (2020-10-02). "A new furry lobster (Crustacea, Decapoda, Synaxidae) from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Lebanon". Palaeodiversity. 13 (1). doi:10.18476/pale.v13.a10. ISSN 1867-6294
^Garassino, A.; Angeli, Antonio De; Pasini, Giovanni (2009). "A new hermit crab (Crustacea, Anomura, Paguroidea) from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Lebanon". Atti Soc. It. Sci. Nat. Museo Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano. 150 (II): 215–228. S2CID 130639300
^Lamsdell, James C. & McKenzie, Scott C. (2015-12-01). "Tachypleus syriacus (Woodward)—a sexually dimorphic Cretaceous crown limulid reveals underestimated horseshoe crab divergence times". Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 15 (4): 681–693. Bibcode:2015ODivE..15..681L. doi:10.1007/s13127-015-0229-3. ISSN 1618-1077
^Fuchs; Bracchi; Weis, Dirk; Giacomo; Robert (31 December 2008). "NEW OCTOPODS (CEPHALOPODA: COLEOIDEA) FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS (UPPER CENOMANIAN) OF HÂKEL AND HÂDJOULA, LEBANON". Palaeontology. 52 (1): 65–81. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00828.x. S2CID 129082916