Kem Kem Beds
Encyclopedia
The Kem Kem Beds is a geological formation in Morocco
and Algeria
whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous
. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Crocodylomorphs
Crocodylomorphs reported from the Continental Red Beds | ||||||
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Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
Araripesuchus Araripesuchus Araripesuchus is a genus of extinct crocodyliform whose species existed during the Cretaceous period of the late Mesozoic era some 125 to 65 million years ago. They are generally considered to be notosuchians , characterized by their varied teeth types and distinct skull elements... |
Araripesuchus rattoides |
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Elosuchus Elosuchus Elosuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodyliform that lived during the Early Cretaceous of what is now North Africa .... |
Elosuchus cherifiensis |
An Elosuchid Elosuchidae Elosuchidae is an extinct family of neosuchian crocodyliforms. It was named in 2002 to include the genera Elosuchus and Stolokrosuchus, both from the Early Cretaceous of Africa. E. cherifiensis, the type species of Elosuchus, was first classified in the genus Thoracosaurus as a close relative of... . |
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Hamadasuchus Hamadasuchus Hamadasuchus is an extinct genus of sebecian crocodylomorph. Fossils have been found from the Kem Kem Formation outcropping in southeastern Morocco. These beds date back to the Albian and Cenomanian stages of the Late Cretaceous. It was first assigned to the family Trematochampsidae. Diagnostic... |
Hamadasuchus rebouli |
A Peirosaurid Peirosauridae Peirosauridae is a Gondwanan family of mesoeucrocodylians that lived during the Cretaceous period. It was a clade of terrestrial crocodyliforms that evolved a rather dog-like form, and were terrestrial carnivores. It was phylogenetically defined in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of... . |
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Laganosuchus Laganosuchus Laganosuchus is an extinct genus of stomatosuchid crocodyliform. Fossils have been found from Niger and Morocco and date back to the Upper Cretaceous. The name means "pancake crocodile" from the Greek laganon and souchos in reference to the shallow depth of the skull, which is characteristic of... |
Laganosuchus maghrebensisis |
A Stomatosuchid Stomatosuchidae Stomatosuchidae is an extinct family of neosuchian crocodylomorphs. It is currently defined as the most inclusive clade containing Stomatosuchus inermis but not Notosuchus terrestris, Simosuchus clarki, Araripesuchus gomesii, Baurusuchus pachecoi, Peirosaurus torminni, or Crocodylus niloticus... . |
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Dinosaurs
Indeterminate lithostrotian remains once misattributed to the titanosauridae are present in Province De Ksar-es-Souk, Morocco.Dinosaur Dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of... s reported from the Continental Red Beds |
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Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
Carcharodontosaurus Carcharodontosaurus Carcharodontosaurus was a gigantic carnivorous carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived around 100 to 93 million years ago, during the late Albian to early Cenomanian stages of the mid-Cretaceous Period... |
C. saharicus |
Province De Ksar-es-Souk, Morocco. | ||||
Brachiosaurus Brachiosaurus Brachiosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. It was first described by Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Grand River Canyon of western Colorado, in the United States. Riggs named the dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax,... |
B. nougaredi |
"Sacrum [and] forelimb elements." |
Actually an unnamed brachiosaurid. |
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Deltadromeus Deltadromeus Deltadromeus is a genus of large basal ceratosaurian theropod dinosaur from Northern Africa. It had long, unusually slender hind limbs for its size, suggesting that it was a swift runner. The skull is not known. Two fossil specimens of a single species Deltadromeus (meaning "delta runner") is a... |
D. agilis |
"Partial skeleton, isolated limb elements." |
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cf. Elaphrosaurus Elaphrosaurus Elaphrosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic of Tanzania. Elaphrosaurus was probably a ceratosaur about 6 meters long. Suggestions that it is a late surviving coelophysoid have been entertained but are generally dismissed. It was first... |
Indeterminate |
Province De Ksar-es-Souk, Morocco. | Fossils previously referred to cf. Elaphrosaurus Elaphrosaurus Elaphrosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic of Tanzania. Elaphrosaurus was probably a ceratosaur about 6 meters long. Suggestions that it is a late surviving coelophysoid have been entertained but are generally dismissed. It was first... are actually indeterminate theropod remains. |
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Inosaurus Inosaurus Inosaurus is the name given to a dubious genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. Only partial fossils have ever been found.The type species is Inosaurus tedreftensis, described by Albert-Félix de Lapparent in 1960. The specific name is derived from the location of the site, In Tedreft... |
I. tedreftensis |
"Vertebrae." |
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Kemkemia Kemkemia Kemkemia is a genus of theropod dinosaur living in the Cretaceous, described from a single fossil in 1999 recovered from Morocco by an Italian team searching for fossil invertebrates.... |
K. auditorei |
An isolated caudal vertebra, belonging to a neotheropod. |
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cf. Majungasaurus Majungasaurus Majungasaurus is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 65.5 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Only one species has been identified... |
Indeterminate | Province De Ksar-es-Souk, Morocco. | Misidentified remains of an indeterminate abelisaur Abelisaur Abelisaurs were a group of ceratosaurian dinosaurs which lived in the Southern hemisphere during the Cretaceous period. Some well-known dinosaurs of this group include Abelisaurus, Carnotaurus, and Majungasaurus. They are known for their small arms... id. |
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Rebbachisaurus Rebbachisaurus Rebbachisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur of the superfamily Diplodocoidea, up to 20 meters long, that lived during the Early-Late Cretaceous period in Africa about 99 million years ago. This massive four-legged plant-eating animal had a small head, a long, graceful neck and a whiplike... |
Indeterminate |
Province De Ksar-es-Souk, Morocco. | Misidentified indeterminate sauropod remains. | |||
Sigilmassasaurus Sigilmassasaurus Sigilmassasaurus is a genus of tetanuran theropod dinosaur from the middle of the Cretaceous Period of northern Africa... |
S. brevicolis | Province De Ksar-es-Souk, Morocco. | "Cervical vertebrae." | |||
Spinosaurus Spinosaurus Spinosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in what is now North Africa, from the lower Albian to lower Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous period, about 112 to 97 million years ago. This genus was first known from Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described by German... |
Spinosaurus cf. aegyptiacus |
Province De Ksar-es-Souk, Morocco. | ||||
S. maroccanus |
Province De Ksar-es-Souk, Morocco. | "Cervical vertebrae, dentary fragments," and a "dorsal neural arch." |
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Pterosaurs
Pterosaur Pterosaur Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight... s of the Kem Kem Beds |
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Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Abundance | Notes | Images |
Alanqa Alanqa Alanqa is a genus of pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous Kem Kem Beds of southeastern Morocco.... |
A. saharica |
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Coloborhynchus Coloborhynchus Coloborhynchus is a genus in the pterosaur family Ornithocheiridae, and is known from the Lower Cretaceous of England , and possibly the Aptian age of Brazil and Texas, depending on which species are included.-Description:The type specimen of Coloborhynchus is known only from a partial upper jaw... |
C. moroccensis |
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Turtles
Turtle Turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield... s reported from the Continental Red Beds |
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Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | |
Dirqadim |
Dirqadim schaefferi |
A Euraxemydid |
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Galianemys |
Galianemys emringeri |
A Cearachelyin |
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Hamadachelys |
Hamadachelys escuilliei |
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