Ouled Abdoun Basin

Ouled Abdoun Basin
Ouled Abdoun Basin as it appears in the second segment of Coasts
Location
Supercontinent	Gondwanaland
Continent	Africa
Country	Morocco
Region	Khouribga City, Khouribga Province, Béni Mellal-Khénifra
Temporal Range	71 - 25 million years ago, Maastrichtian - Chattian Stage, Late Cretaceous - Late Paleogene Period
Episodes	Coasts (Segment 2) Deserts (Segment 5)
Filmed In	Grand Canyon National Park, northwest Arizona, USA (Deserts, Segment 5)
Characteristics
Climate	Arid
Environment	Coastal, Desert, Marine

“ It's especially rich here in the North Atlantic, where huge shoals of fish come close to the shore. One kind of animal thrives in such places and forms immense colonies. Flying reptiles, pterosaurs. Here, on the beaches of North Africa, there are seven different species of them. They come here to feed, to rest, and to raise their young. ”

― David Attenborough, Coasts

The Ouled Abdoun Basin (also known as the Khouribga Basin) is a phosphate sedimentary basin located in Morocco, near the city of Khouribga.

Paleoenvironment

West of the Atlas Mountains, the Ouled Abdoun Phosphatic Basin contains abundant marine life, like fish, turtles, crocodilians, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs like the 10-meter (33-foot) Thalassotitan, a relative of Prognathodon. On its shores, seabirds like Dasornis and Lithoptila coexisted with at least seven different species of pterosaurs (among them Alcione, Barbaridactylus, Phosphatodraco, and Tethydraco), showing that, up to the end of the Cretaceous Period, the pterosaurs were successful, diverse, and not suppressed by the avian dinosaurs (birds).

Non-avian dinosaurs are also present in this area, among them indeterminate titanosaurs, the diminutive lambeosaurine Ajnabia, and Chenanisaurus, a robust abelisaurid that rivaled Carnotaurus in size, serving as the area's apex predator.

“ Over millions of years, water has carved some deserts into spectacular landscapes, as here, in North Africa, these canyon lands offer some desert visitors special opportunities. ”

― David Attenborough, Deserts

While mostly interpreted as a coastal and marine environment, it is possible that the area was more arid further inland, justifying the show's depiction of a dry area with the occasional flat-topped plateaus in the fifth segment of Deserts.

Appearances

The Ouled Abdoun Basin serves as the setting of the second segment of Coasts and the fifth segment of Deserts.

Paleofauna

Alcione elainus

Barbaridactylus grandis

Phosphatodraco mauritanicus

Tethydraco regalis