A new international study reveals that Morocco's remote Oudiksou Basin holds one of Africa's best-preserved records of the period surrounding the dinosaur extinction, capturing a rare transition from marine to continental environments. The site contains fossils of sharks, mammals, and dinosaurs, making it a key location for understanding how ecosystems changed before and after the K–Pg extinction event. A new international study has revealed that a remote basin in Morocco's Middle Atlas contains one of the best-preserved records in Africa of the period surrounding the extinction of the dinosaurs. The research, published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, shows that the Oudiksou Basin preserves a rare sequence of rocks capturing the transition from the late Cretaceous to the early Paleogene, including fossils of sharks, mammals, and even dinosaurs. Researchers from Casablanca, France, and Belgium found that the Central Middle Atlas basin hosts an exceptional succession of rocks bridging this major extinction event. They describe Oudiksou as «a key locality for investigating the K–Pg boundary interval», referring to the moment 66 million years ago when dinosaurs disappeared. What makes the Oudiksou Basin particularly remarkable is that it contains both marine fossils, for which Morocco is well known, and continental fossils from just before and after the extinction, a type of record that is extremely rare in North Africa. According to the authors, «The basin preserves Maastrichtian and Paleocene continental deposits, one of the very few such records in Africa». Life before and after dinosaur extinction The research team analyzed eight geological sections across the basin, uncovering several major findings. The lowest layers consist of phosphate-rich marine sediments filled with shark teeth, confirming that parts of today's Middle Atlas were once shallow seas. Above these, the scientists identified lake deposits containing dinosaur teeth and eggshell fragments, evidence that dinosaurs survived in this region right up until their extinction. These fossils come from what the authors describe as a «continental lacustrine setting», or freshwater lakes. The early Paleocene layers show red river gravels and sabkha (salt-flat) deposits, signalling a shift to drier continental environments after the extinction event. Higher up, the team documented coastal deposits from the Thanetian or Ypresian (about 58–50 million years ago) containing early mammals and small sharks, marking a period of ecological recovery following the collapse of dinosaur-era ecosystems. Together, these discoveries help fill a major scientific gap. Most research on the dinosaur extinction in North Africa relies on the country's phosphate mines, Khouribga, Oulad Abdoun, and Ganntour, which mainly preserve marine fossils. In contrast, the Oudiksou Basin offers a continuous land-to-sea record, giving researchers an unprecedented view of environmental change across millions of years.
