Group · Cretaceous
Kem Kem Group
Late Cretaceous unit, Drâa-Tafilalet · Taouz · Erfoud
The Kem Kem Group along the Algerian border near Taouz and Erfoud is the source of almost every Spinosaurus tooth and Carcharodontosaurus tooth on the market, plus Onchopristis rostral 'teeth', Mawsonia coelacanth bone, crocodile and pterosaur material. Teeth are found isolated in channel lags, so complete jaws are exceedingly rare and 'Spinosaurus jaws' offered at shows are generally composites of unrelated teeth set in resin. Assume some root repair and enamel fill on anything over 3 inches, and expect the ubiquitous bright orange stain of the Kem Kem red beds.
| Country | Morocco |
|---|---|
| Region | Drâa-Tafilalet, Taouz, Erfoud |
| Age | Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous |
| Age range | ~100–94 Ma |
| Group | Kem Kem Group |
| PBDB collections | 72 collections, 285 occurrences· Paleobiology Database |
Collecting and legality
Morocco permits the export of common fossils through licensed dealers with export paperwork, but scientifically important vertebrates are increasingly scrutinised, and museums will not accept undocumented Kem Kem material. Keep the export invoice with the specimen and record the nearest village (Taouz, Begaa, Aferdou N'Chaft).
Lithology and setting
Red fluvial sandstones and mudstones of a river delta on the southern Tethys margin, with a lower sandy unit (Ifezouane) and an upper fine-grained unit (Aoufous).
Commonly recorded taxa (PBDB)
Genera most often recorded from this unit in the Paleobiology Database (first 200 occurrences): Theropoda (24), Spinosaurus (13), Carcharodontosaurus (9), Testudines (9), Crocodylia (7), Spinosauridae (7), Onchopristis (6), Anhangueridae (5), Rebbachisaurus (5), Abelisauridae (4), Chondrichthyes (4), Sauropoda (4), Alanqa (3), Archosauria (3), Azhdarchidae (3).
Source: Paleobiology Database
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Kem Kem Group" (Formation). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/formations/kem-kem-group. Accessed 2026-09-20.
@misc{stratum-kem-kem-group,
title = {Kem Kem Group},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/formations/kem-kem-group}},
year = {2026},
note = {Formation article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, pbdb, commons. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.