Algeria’s First Plesiosaur Fossil Illuminates North Africa’s Cretaceous Seas

Researchers in northeastern Algeria found the country’s first plesiosaur fossil at Djebel Essen in the Upper Coniacian Essen Formation during 2025 fieldwork, a discovery that fills a gap in North Africa’s marine reptile record and sheds new light on Cretaceous marine ecosystems; the specimen is identified as Elasmosauridae indet., highlighting plesiosaur distribution in ancient North African seas.