Mokattam Formation
Geologic formation in Egypt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mokattam Formation[1][2] is a Middle Eocene-aged geological formation in northern Egypt. Consisting of nummulitic marine limestone outcropping across the Mokattam Hills, it has been extensively quarried from Ancient Egypt to the present day, and represents the source material for most of the famous archeological sites of Greater Cairo, most notably the Giza pyramid complex, the Great Sphinx, and much of Historic Cairo.[3]
| Mokattam Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
 A limestone quarry in the Mokattam Hills | |
| Type | Sedimentary |
| Sub-units | Building Stone Member, Giushi Member |
| Underlies | Maadi Formation |
| Overlies | Minia Formation |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Limestone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 30.0°N 31.3°E |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 17.1°N 33.0°E |
| Country | Egypt |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Mokattam Hills |
  Mokattam Formation (Egypt) | |
The age of the formation is thought to span from the late Lutetian to the Bartonian, depending on the member (Building Stone or Giushi). However, some authors treat the Giushi Member as its own geologic formation, which would restrict the Mokattam to just the Lutetian.[2][5][6][7]
Numerous fossil fishes are known from this formation.[5][8] Sirenian bones have been reported. This formation is the type locality of the early whales Protocetus atavus, and the sirenians Eotheroides aegyptiacus and Protosiren fraasi.[7][9]
Paleobiota
Cartilaginous fish
Based on Leriche (1921):[10]
| Genus | Species | Member | Locality | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galeocerdo | G. latidens | Gebel Mokattam | A relative of the tiger shark.[11] |  | |
| Isurus | I. desori | A mako shark.[12] |  | ||
| Myliobatis | M. goniopleurus | An eagle ray.[13] |  | ||
| Nebrius | N. blanckenhorni | A relative of the tawny nurse shark.[14] |  | ||
| Otodus | O. obliquus | A megatooth shark.[15] |  | ||
| Physogaleus | P. alabamensis (=Galeocerdo aegyptiacus) | A ground shark.[16] |  |
Bony fish
| Genus | Species | Member | Locality | Material | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arius | A. fraasi | A sea catfish.[17] |  | |||
| Blabe | B. crawleyi | Tura | Full specimen | A percomorph of uncertain affinities, possibly a serranid.[18] |  | |
| Cylindracanthus | C. gigas | Spine | A ray-finned fish of uncertain affinities. Identified from the rocks of the Great Sphinx.[19] |  | ||
| Eobuglossus | E. eocenicus | Tura | Full specimen | A sole.[20][21] | ||
| Mylomyrus | M. frangens | Tura | Full specimen | An eel.[20] | ||
| "Perca" (Smerdis?) | "P." lorenti | Incomplete specimen | A percomorph of uncertain affinities.[22] | |||
| Pomadasys | P. sadeki (=Kemticthys sadeki) | Tura | Full specimen | A grunt.[18] | ||
| Pycnodus | P. mokattamensis[10] | Tooth plate | A pycnodont. |  | ||
| Trigonodon | T. laevis | Pharyngeal teeth | A wrasse, taxonomic assignment uncertain.[23] | |||
| Turahbuglossus | T. cuvillieri | Tura | Full specimen | A sole.[21] |
Reptiles
| Genus | Species | Member | Locality | Material | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'Tomistoma' | T. cairense | Skull | A gavialoid crocodilian.[24] |
Mammals
| Genus | Species | Member | Locality | Material | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eotheroides | E. aegyptiacus | A sirenian.[9][25] |  | |||
| Protocetus | P. atavus | Gebel Mokattam | A protocetid whale.[7] |  | ||
| Protosiren | P. fraasi | Gebel Mokattam | A sirenian.[7][25] |  |