Paleontology in Lebanon

A rock containing Notahomarus sp. (lobster, left), Diplomystus birdii (fish, right), and a partial Dercetis triqueter, Cretaceous Hakel, Lebanon

The paleontological sites of Lebanon contain deposits of well preserved fossils and include some species found nowhere else. Notable among these is the Lebanese lagerstätten of the Late Cretaceous age, which contain a well-preserved variety of different fossils. Some fossils date back to the Jurassic period, and younger fossils of mammals from a different site belong to the Miocene through the Pleistocene.

History

The earliest known account of Lebanese fossils is attributed to Herodotus.^[1]^[2] The existence of fossil fishes in the Lebanon is referred to by Jean de Joinville. In his Histoire de Saint Louis he wrote that during the sojourn of King Louis IX of France at Sidon in 1253, just before his return home from the Seventh Crusade, a stone was brought him,

“

which was the most marvellous in the world, for when a layer of it was lifted, there was found between the two pieces the form of a fish. The fish was of stone, but lacked nothing in form, eyes, bones, colour, or anything necessary to a living fish.^[3]

”

European scientists became interested in Lebanese fossils in the 19th century.^[1]

Locations and fossils

Rhinobatos whitfieldi, a species from the Cretaceous period found in Lebanon

There are three major fossil locations in Lebanon: Sahel Alma, Hajula and Hakel. Hajula and Hakel are each about twelve miles north-east of the coastal town of Byblos. Hajula is situated six miles south of Hakel; and between the two villages there are two westward-projecting spurs of Mount Lebanon and an intervening valley. Both villages are approximately 2500–3000 feet above sea level. In both places there is clear evidence of faulting by which the fish-bearing strata have been lowered into the midst of older strata. Those at Hakel have been lowered to the level of the hippurite limestone of Lebanon, being above the trigonia sandstone. The Hajula beds are thought to be an extension of those at Hakel. The study of fish fossils appears to show that the horizon of the beds at Hajula is somewhat higher than that of the beds at Hakel.^[4]

The fishes found at Sahel Alma mostly belong to the same genera as those at Hakel and Hajula, but of around sixty species, probably not one is found elsewhere. Twenty-one species found at Hajula also occur at Hakel. These data make it quite certain that the beds at Sahel Alma are on a different level from those at Hakel and Hajula; while those at the latter places are on the same, or nearly the same, horizon. Opinions differ as to which are older, the fish-beds at Sahel Alma or those at Hakel, but the view of modern authorities is that those at Hakel are more ancient. This opinion appears to be supported by the character of the fishes in each. From a study of the fishes taken at Hajula, the beds containing them may belong to a slightly more recent time than that of the beds at Hakel.^[5]

The landscape of Lebanon has been subject to volcanic eruptions, tectonic plate movement, and the rising and dropping of sea levels. The Late Cretaceous was characterized by very high sea levels. During that time fossil-bearing limestone was formed.^[6]

One of the discoveries reported in 1989 was the description of Hipparion fossils from the Bekaa Valley by M. Malez and A. Forsten.^[7]

Another find was a snake with two legs. This provided a valuable example of evolution at work, illustrating how ancient lizards became modern snakes. ^[8]

Octopuses are some of the rarest marine fossils, since most species have no hard structures apart from a beak. An octopus's corpse cannot usually survive long enough to become fossilized, which is why the discovery of well-preserved octopuses in Lebanon in 2009 was remarkable. Dirk Fuchs of the Freie University Berlin said about these 95-million-year-old fossil octopuses found in Lebanon:

“

This provides important evolutionary information. The more primitive relatives of octopuses had fleshy fins along their bodies. The new fossils are so well preserved that they show, like living octopus, that they didn't have these structures.^[9]

”

Some of the fossils of Keuppia levante are preserved so well that their ink is still visible.^[9]

Fossil taxa discovered in Lebanon

Name	Authority	Age	locality	Family	Notes	Fossils
Aeger libanensis	Roger, 1946	Cenomanian	Hjoula and Mayfouq	Aegeridae	A shrimp	Aeger libanensis
Aphanizocnemus libanensis	Dal Sasso and Pinna, 1997	Cenomanian	Nammoûra	Varanoidea	a lizard	Aphanizocnemus libanensis
Aipichthys minor	(Pictet, 1850)	Cenomanian	Hjoula and Mayfouq	Aipichthyidae	A stem Lampridacea ray-finned fish	Aipichthys minor
Aipichthys oblongus	Gayet, 1980	Cenomanian	Hjoula and Mayfouq	Aipichthyidae	A stem Lampridacea ray-finned fish
Aipichthys velifer	Woodward, 1901	Cenomanian	Hjoula and Mayfouq	Aipichthyidae	A stem Lampridacea ray-finned fish	Aipichthys velifer
Carpopenaeus callirostris	Glaessner, 1946	Cenomanian	Hjoula and Mayfouq	Carpopenaeidae	A Carpopenaeidae shrimp	Carpopenaeus callirostris
Charbelicaris maronites	Haug et al., 2016	Cenomanian	Hjoula and Mayfouq	Cancrinidae	a slipper lobster relative
Cheirothrix lewisii	Davis, 1887	Santonian	Sahel Alma		an Alepisauriformes fish	Cheirothrix lewisii
Corusichthys megacephalus	Taverne & Capasso, 2014	Cenomanian		Coccodontidae	A pycnodontid fish
Cyclobatis	Egerton, 1844			Cyclobatidae	A ray genus	Cyclobatis major
Dorateuthis syrica	(Woodward, 1883)	Santonian	Sahel Alma	Plesioteuthididae	A squid
Enantiophoenix electrophyla	Cau & Arduini, 2008	Cenomanian	Nammoûra	Avisauridae	An enantiornithine bird
Eupodophis descouensi	Rage & Escuillié, 2000	Cenomanian	Nammoûra	Simoliophiidae	A simoliophiid snake	Eupodophis
Hakelocaris vavassorii	Garassino, 1994	Cenomanian	Hjoula and Mayfouq	Penaeidae	A penaeid shrimp	Hakelocaris vavassorii
Hensodon spinosus	Kriwet, 2004	Cenomanian	Haqel, Mount Lebanon	Coccodontidae	A pycnodontiform fish
Homarus hakelensis	(Fraas, 1878)	Cenomanian	Hjoula and Mayfouq	Nephropidae	A lobster	Homarus hakelensis
Ichthyotringa damoni	Davis, 1887	Santonian	Sahel Alma		An Alepisauriformes fish	Ichthyotringa damoni
Ichthyotringa delicata	Hay, 1903	Santonian			An Alepisauriformes fish
Ichthyotringa ferox	Davis, 1887	Santonian	Sahel Alma		An Alepisauriformes fish	Ichthyotringa ferox
Ichthyotringa furcata	Agassiz, 1844	Santonian			An Alepisauriformes fish
Keuppia levante	Fuchs, Bracchi & Weis, 2009	Cenomanian	Hjoula	Palaeoctopodidae	A stem-group octopus
Keuppia hyperbolaris	Fuchs, Bracchi & Weis, 2009	Cenomanian	Hjoula	Palaeoctopodidae	A stem-group octopus
Lebanoraphidia nana	Bechly & Wolf-Schwenninger, 2011	Barremian–Aptian	Lebanese amber	Mesoraphidiidae	A stem group Snakefly
Libanopristis hiram	(Hay, 1903)	Cenomanian	Hjoula	Sclerorhynchidae	A sawfish	Libanopristis hiram
Libanopsis	Kirejtshuk, 2015	Barremian	Lebanese amber	Sphindidae	A beetle genus with five species
Micropristis solominis	(Hay, 1903)	Cenomanian	Hjoula	Sclerorhynchidae	a sclerorhynchid sawfish	Micropristis solominis
Microtuban altivolans	Elgin & Frey 2011	Cenomanian	Sannine Formation	Neoazhdarchia	An Azhdarchoid pterosaur
Mimodactylus libanensis	Kellner et al., 2019	Cenomanian	Sannine Formation	Mimodactylidae	A Mimodactylid pterosaur	Mimodactylus libanensis
Nematonotus longispinus	(Davis, 1887)	Cenomanian	Haqel, Mount Lebanon	Aulopidae	An aulopid fish	Nematonotus longispinus
Palaeobalistum goedeli	Heckel, 1856	Cenomanian	Hjoula and Mayfouq	Pycnodontidae	A pycnodont fish	Palaeobalistum goedeli
Palaeobenthesicymus libanensis	(Brocchi, 1875)	Santonian	Sahel Alma	Benthesicymidae	A benthesicymid shrimp
Palaeoctopus newboldi	(Woodward, 1896)	Santonian	Sahel Alma	Palaeoctopodidae	A stem-group octopus
Paracancrinos libanensis	(Garassino & Schweigert, 2006)	upper Cretaceous		Cancrinidae	A cancrinid lobster
Parasabatinca aftimacrai	Whalley, 1978	Barremian	Lebanese amber	Micropterigidae?	A micropterigid moth
Palibacus praecursor	(Dames, 1886)	Cenomanian	Hakel	Scyllaridae	A slipper lobster
Pontosaurus kornhuberi	Caldwell, 2006	Upper Cretaceous		Dolichosauridae	A dolichosaurid lizard	Pontosaurus kornhuberi
Pronotacanthus sahelalmae	(Davis, 1887)	Santonian		Notacanthidae	a spiny eel
Rhinochelys nammourensis	Tong, Hirayama, Makhoul and Escuillie, 2006	Cenomanian	Nammoûra	Protostegidae	A protostegid sea turtle	Rhinochelys nammourensis
Scapanorhynchus lewisii	(Davis, 1887)	Santonian	Sahel Alma	Mitsukurinidae	A goblin shark	Scapanorhynchus lewisii
Sorbinichthys elusivo	Bannikov & Bacchia, 2000	Cenomanian	Nammoûra	Sorbinichthyidae	A clupeiform fish	Sorbinichthys elusivo
Styletoctopus annae	Fuchs, Bracchi & Weis, 2009	Cenomanian	Hjoula	Palaeoctopodidae	A stem-group octopus
Tragichrysa ovoruptora	Pérez-de la Fuente et al., 2018	Barremian	Lebanese amber	Chrysopoidea	chrysopoid lacewing neonates of uncertain placement	Tragichrysa ovoruptora
Trewavasia carinata	(Davis, 1887)	Cenomanian	Hekel	Coccodontidae	A pycnodontiform fish	Trewavasia carinata
Tyruschrysa melqart	Pérez-de la Fuente et al., 2018	Barremian	Lebanese amber	Chrysopoidea	chrysopoid lacewing larva of uncertain placement	Tyruschrysa melqart