Histological and digenetic study of juvenile crocodyliform vertebrae from the Campanian deposits, the Western Desert, Egypt

The Western Desert of Egypt exhibits well exposures of Late Cretaceous deposits, containing varieties of marine and terrestrial vertebrate fossils. The Quseir Formation (Campanian age) contains vertebrate fossils such as dinosaurs, turtles and crocodyliforms remains. This formation is formed of variegated shale and siltstone intercalations, indicating supratidal marsh environment. The present work concerns with the histology and the diagenetic process of the Late Cretaceous juvenile crocodyliform vertebrae from the Campanian deposits of the Quseir Formation of the south of Baris Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt. It provides the first discovery of the Late Cretaceous juvenile neosuchian crocodyliform postcranial remains in Egypt, in addition to the study of the early and the late diagenesis phases exhibited by the microbial activities and the minerals precipitations of the bone cavities.