00:00There's a place on Earth so dangerous that even the most fearsome creatures of today
00:05wouldn't last a moment there.
00:07It used to exist in what we now call Southeastern Morocco, the land called the Kem Kem Beds.
00:16The story of this place stretches back to the Cretaceous period, about a hundred million
00:20years ago.
00:22It might have looked like a beautiful place at first sight, a lush green forest, rivers
00:26glittering in the sun, until you meet some terrifying dinosaur.
00:32The lions or sharks of today are nothing compared to what the fossils show us.
00:36The Kem Kem Beds were dominated by terrifying predators, and above them all, three of the
00:42largest predatory dinosaurs ever discovered.
00:46For example, Spinosaurus.
00:49This dinosaur was unlike anything you can imagine, a half-reptile, half-monster standing
00:54over 50 feet tall, bigger than a T-Rex.
00:58This hybrid with a crocodile-like snout and a sail on its back hunted the forests.
01:04But this dino could dive into the rivers, so not even waters were safe from it.
01:08It could catch huge fish, as if plucking them from the shallows.
01:13There was also a Carcharodontosaurus, a carnivore with a name that literally means shark-toothed
01:19lizard.
01:20Its razor-sharp teeth could slice through flesh with terrifying ease.
01:26This monster stood almost as tall as a house, and was faster, stronger, and more aggressive
01:31than nearly anything that had ever walked the earth.
01:36There was also a Deltadromedus, a raptor-like dinosaur built for speed.
01:42It was a quick-moving ninja that stalked its prey with horrifying precision.
01:46Oh, and the skies were a fun place too.
01:50With all these pterosaur creatures flying around, these guys are often mistaken for
01:54flying dinosaurs.
01:56But they were actually a different kind, more like close cousins of dinosaurs.
02:01These majestic reptiles soared above the chem chem beds, and had wingspans that could stretch
02:07up to 30 feet!
02:09The fingers were feathery, with a fourth finger kinda like bats.
02:14They could glide through the air so easily thanks to their super-light skeleton.
02:20But it wasn't just the dinosaurs that made the chem chem beds so horrifying.
02:24The waters also hid their own dark secrets.
02:27They were home to giant, terrifying fish and crocodile-like creatures.
02:33Their jaws were strong enough to crush bone, and they were lurking beneath the surface,
02:38waiting for anything unlucky enough to stumble into their path.
02:43One of the river creatures was Sarcosuchus, also called the super croc.
02:48Being about 40 feet long, it could easily swallow an adult human.
02:53Or better yet, it could take on a full-grown dinosaur and win!
02:58Its jaws snapped with unimaginable force, and no creature, not even Spinosaurus, was
03:04safe from it.
03:07Coelacanths could also hang out in the rivers.
03:10It was a monstrous predator that could easily swallow a huge fish whole.
03:15They had these creepy, icky fins that moved in a way similar to how human arms and legs
03:21move.
03:22And they could also kind of raise their heads like humans because of a special joint in
03:26their skull.
03:27Ew!
03:28Fun fact, we thought these monsters had gone extinct 60 million years ago, together with
03:34dinosaurs.
03:35But recently, we rediscovered them living and thriving in the Indian Ocean.
03:40Turns out, they were just hiding in the deep waters.
03:43They probably didn't even notice the dinosaur, asteroid, or humans at all.
03:49Yay?
03:50Don't worry, over millions of years, they became basically harmless.
03:54They got four to five times smaller, even though they still weigh about 200 pounds.
04:00Just imagine what they were like back in the day!
04:04Chemchem waters were also home to giant lungfish and other creepy aquatic creatures, so you
04:09couldn't even drink or take a swim safely without getting bitten by something.
04:14Phew, what a place!
04:17Even turtles there were the size of cars!
04:20Imagine trying to survive in a world where creatures like this are literally everywhere,
04:24and I mean everywhere.
04:27This place was unique not because huge beasts lived there, but because of the sheer number
04:32of predators.
04:34You might think, it shouldn't be that easy for all these predators to hang out in one
04:38place, right?
04:39And you're right!
04:40Seems like prey was scarce there.
04:42That's even more chilling!
04:44All the predators just wandered around, hunting whatever meager life remained.
04:49And if there's none, then fighting each other.
04:53For years, scientists have wondered why it was the case.
04:57Maybe that's just how life was back then, and all corners of Earth were crazy like that.
05:04Or is there something special about this place?
05:07Some even say that maybe it's just because we only found predators' fossils.
05:12Well, normal, friendly animals have disappeared, and that the fossil record might be skewed.
05:18But who knows?
05:20And the environment itself was just as fascinating as the beasts who lived there, just a bit
05:25more friendly.
05:27It's hard to imagine, but back in the day, this desert was a green paradise, humid, and
05:33full of rivers.
05:35The heat of the sun scorched the land.
05:38The climate was hot, so hot that even the poles were warm!
05:42The weather there was extreme, dry seasons followed by intense storms, which shaped the
05:48land and life.
05:50The giant rivers carved their way through this landscape.
05:54They stretched from the Sahara, emptying into the ancient Tethys Ocean to the north.
05:59If you were there, you'd see vast, interconnected basins, and beyond them, the central Atlantic
06:06Ocean.
06:08The floodplains stretched out beneath a sweltering sky.
06:12The rivers were just as wild as local animals, flowing lazily one day, but raging like furious
06:18beasts the next.
06:20At first, these rivers were powerful, carving deep channels through the land and creating
06:25wide sandbanks.
06:27But over time, they slowed down, and the landscape changed into shallow ponds and salt-covered
06:33flats.
06:35As water gradually faded away, it left behind a patchwork of wetlands and slow-moving waters.
06:43Right now, the Kem Kem Beds is a vast, rugged desert where time has stood still for millions
06:49of years.
06:50If you visited it, you'd see a giant escarpment, its rocky face winding along the border of
06:56Morocco and Algeria, bathed in the sun's harsh light.
07:02Beneath your feet would lie layers of fossilized history.
07:05That's one of the reasons why scientists were long fascinated with this place.
07:10It must be one of the most comprehensive collections of fossils ever discovered in Northern Africa.
07:17There are fossils from other parts of Africa, of course, like Egypt's Baharia Formation.
07:23But they don't tell us much about life during this time, not like Kem Kem.
07:28That's all because those rivers we mentioned, in hotter and drier places, they've eroded
07:33or still remain buried under the sand.
07:36The first discoveries from Kem Kem began in the late 1940s.
07:41A scientist named Choubert uncovered bony fish fossils among the escarpment near the
07:46Morocco-Algeria border.
07:49Just a few years later, a paleontologist, René Lovoka, took things to the next level.
07:55Traveling by camelback, he scoured the desert landscape and uncovered a real treasure trove
08:01of fossils.
08:03He found the partial skeleton of a massive herbivore dinosaur.
08:07Finally, at least one peaceful creature in the Kem Kem beds.
08:12This long-necked giant roamed the ancient river valleys and ate leaves like a good boy.
08:18For the next several decades, scientists only did small-scale fossil-hunting expeditions
08:22to this place.
08:24There were modest discoveries made here and there.
08:27Then in the 1970s, German paleontologist Helmut Alberti led his team to the Kem Kem beds.
08:34And that's when things took a wild turn.
08:36They uncovered fossils of prehistoric fish, crocodiles, dinosaurs, and pieces of the infamous
08:42Spinosaurus.
08:44Imagine being one of the scientists on that team.
08:47They were probably jumping from excitement!
08:50By the mid-1990s, the fossil game changed dramatically.
08:55Incredible new species were identified from the Kem Kem beds.
09:00Over the years, the discovery pace has only accelerated.
09:04Scientists, armed with new tools and techniques, have uncovered more fossils than ever before.
09:10And there's only more to come!
09:13That's it for today.
09:15So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your
09:19friends.
09:20Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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