Maevarano Formation

Maevarano Formation
Maevarano Formation as it appears in the third segment of Swamps
Location
Supercontinent	Gondwanaland
Continent	Africa
Country	Madagascar
Region	Mahajanga Province
Underlies	Berivotra Formation
Temporal Range	70 - 66 million years ago, Maastrichtian Stage, Late Cretaceous Period
Episodes	Freshwater (Segment 5) Islands (Segments 3 and 4) Swamps (Segment 3)
Filmed In	Lower Zambezi National Park, southeast Zambia (Islands, Segments 3 and 4, Swamps, Segment 3)
Characteristics
Climate	Semi-arid, tropical
Environment	Alluvial, Coastal, Fluvial

“ The island of Madagascar has been separated from the African mainland for 80 million years, so long that most of its animals are now very different from any to be found elsewhere. ”

― David Attenborough, Islands

The Maevarano Formation is a Late Cretaceous sedimentary rock formation found in the Mahajanga Province (known as "Majunga" in French) of northwestern Madagascar.

Paleoenvironment

The Maevarano Formation is recognized as an alluvial plain where the discharge of rivers fluctuate. The area is also believed to have had reddish soil, with floodplains that supported vegetation able to grow in the relatively dry climate. The region, at times semi-arid (like it is today), at times undergoing strong dry and wet seasons, was eventually claimed by rising sea levels that pushed the shoreline back. This may or may not have been the result of the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event, a catastrophe that wiped out three-quarters of life on Earth.

Appearances

The Maevarano Formation serves as the setting of the fifth segment of Freshwater, the third and fourth segments of Islands, and the third segment of Swamps.

Paleofauna

Adalatherium hui

Beelzebufo ampinga

Madtsoia madagascariensis

Majungasaurus crenatissimus

Masiakasaurus knopfleri

Rapetosaurus krausei

Simosuchus clarki