Kem Kem Beds

Lol hahaha The Kem Kem Group, informally referred to as the "Kem Kem Beds", was a formerly playable server found in the current server of Morocco. The server was created around the Cenomanian of the Cretacous Expansion and was a system of river deltas flowing into the Atlantic ocean, a far cry from the playable desert it is today. Dataminer Paul Sereno and his collagues coined the informal name for this long-gone server in 1996.

## Overview of the Server

Normally in a server, the playerbasof the herbivores is greater than that of the carnivores. In the Kem Kem Group, however, this situation was reversed. Due to the lack of vegetation, herbivores were usually unheard of in this server. Instead, the massive Fish builds in the server would have sustained the theropod builds in the server, which may or may not have lived at the same time. Lastly, there were surprisingly no Birds or Mammal builds in the server.

## Builds of Kem Kem Group

There were several once playable builds in the Kem Kem Group server. The builds would be ranked from lowest to highest.

### F tier

Omukotia- A Frog build playable in this server. Not much to say, other than having a low risk low reward diet and being bodied by everyone, in addition to possessing typical Amphibian weaknesses.

Turtle- Mostly bothremydids, they had way too low stats. Their armor did not do them a service as many of the builds in this server were powerful enough to one-shot them anyways. Additionally, these builds cannot retract their necks inside their shells their necks, being pleurodires after all.

### D tier

Jeddaherdan- This build had the high Mobility typical of agamids, as well as a generalist diet, but that's about it. All of its stats except for Stealth are terrible, and in a server full of powerful griefers, they did not specc into larger size. While small size allowed them to outmaneuver some of the more powerful predator builds in the server, no amount of agility can allow you to outmaneuvere a Pterosaur like Alanqa, and the noobs of those large theropods could be a problem, too.

Concavotectum/Paranogmius- A filter-feeding build that was capable of good Mobility. They could grow to a large size, at 3 meters. However, it was a braindead filter-feeding build, and even this health was not enough to tank hits from some of the more powerful predator builds in addition to not possesing effective defensive scales, putting them in a similar position to the currently playable Milkfish builds.

Lepidotes- A Holostean build capable of sucking in prey similar to the Teleostean Carp. It had strong teeth designed to grief shellfish and had tough scales and a decently large size to tank attacks. However, if it could not tank their attacks, they were certainly doomed, and it suffers from trying too much to be a Carp in a Holostean body.

Rugops- The least viable Dinosaur build, it only had mediocre stats and was mostly a scavenger build. It's not even that fast compared to the other theropods in its server. It only had mediocre Mobility and is outclassed by the Deltadromeus, which could do its job but much better.

### C tier

Atractosteus africanus- A Gar similar to playable Alligator Gar, with tough scales to weather a few attacks, the ability to suck and bite targets at the same time, and the ability to breathe air. In a server with powerful predator builds, this managed to hold well in the meta, but it is not exactly the best build.

Bawitius- A Bichir with increased stats overall, especially Defenseand Power Like the Lepidotes stated above, it was usually either block or die, but it had better stats and can body better high-EXP loot.

Afrotapejara- A foraging Pterosaur. Similar to other tapejarids, it had poor flight and relied on living in trees. However, the abundance of predators in this server brought it down in viability.

Araripesuchus- A medium-sized Crocodillian who had switched to the forager playstyle. It can avoid attacks quickly due to its high Mobility, essentially being a better Jeddaherdan.

Elosuchus- A mediocre fish-griefing build with midweight stats. It was outclassed by many Theropod builds, as well as the Aegisuchus and Spinosaurus, and is exceedingly specialized for griefing soft-bodied Fish builds, similar to Gharials.

Neoceratodus africanus- Essentially a buffed Neoceratodus forsteri with tough enough scales to tank many attacks, and can get out of grabs with its slippery nature, similar to their currently playable counterparts. In a server with powerful griefer builds, however, it was only midweight at best, earning this build a High C-tier.

### B tier

Leptostomia- A small Pterosaur which had specced into a unique niche, probing for crustaceans. Its small size and wings allow it to escape from encounters pretty quickly. However, they are still B-tier at best due to their low Health and inability to use higher quality Loot.

Mawsonia- A mesopredatory, mostly bottom-feeding Coelacanth with great defensive stats, including scales It was vulnerable to only some of the most powerful predatory mains of the Kem Kem Beds.

Deltadromeus- A much better Rugops. It had much better stats, especially Mobility. This build's speed can help it avoid some of the deadlier predators in this server.

Kem Kem plesiosaur- A unique Sauropterygian playable in freshwater servers, able to feed off the armored builds playable there. Its shorter neck also gave it greater Mobility from its shorter neck.

Onchopristis- The best Fish build in the game, speccing into a high-risk, high-reward barbed saw that dealt more damage than playable Sawfish but had a greater stamina cost. It also specced into spines to prevent it from being easily gripped, and has the Health to tank most enemy attacks.

### A tier

Alanqa- A midsized Pterosaur main capable of destroying armor quite decently. It also had the Mobility to evade some of the more dangerous griefers in the server.

Laganosuchus/Aegisuchus- These builds have better stats than most other Crocodillians of the server. They can use their powerful death-trap jaws to grief most builds in the server.

Rebbachisaurus- The only forager in this server. Rebbachisaurus, while small for a Sauropod, still possesed great stats and a tail whip to defend against griefers, with the insulating sail being a given bonus. It was still practically immune to any griefers at max level apart from a Carcharodontosaurus and sometimes a Spinosaurus.

### S tier

Spinosaurus- The superstar of this server. It was reconstructed either as a build that followed the Heron playstyle, or a Mobility-oriented griefer. It had higher base stats than other terrestrial carnivore builds, making it capable of dealing even with heavyweights such as Neoceratodus, Mawsonia and Onchopristis. It only had 1 bad matchup, and that was the next build below.

Carcharodontosaurus- A big powerhouse in this meta. It specced into teeth designed to deal lots of DPS, even inflicting the [Heavy Bleed] debuff. Its stats also ensured that nobody could ever deal with one when caught,even including Fish!

## Referrences

1. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340819682\_Geology\_and\_paleontology\_of\_the\_Upper\_Cretaceous\_Kem\_Kem\_Group\_of\_eastern\_Morocco
2. ↑ https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/en/publications/geology-and-paleontology-of-the-upper-cretaceous-kem-kem-group-of
3. ↑ https://www.fossilera.com/pages/kem-kem-beds-history-paleoecology-and-importance
4. ↑ https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/04/jurassic-park-in-eastern-morocco-paleontology-of-the-kem-kem-group/127870?amp
5. ↑ https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/carnivore
6. ↑ https://medium.com/predict/scientists-reveal-the-most-dangerous-place-in-earths-history-562b88cb6681
7. ↑ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090751
8. ↑ https://www.pteros.com/environments/kem-kem-beds.html
9. ↑ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-kem-kem-beds-a-paradise-for-predators-89707410/
10. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7188693/
11. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9291016/
12. ↑ https://archive.org/stream/galianemysnewsi3379gaff/galianemysnewsi3379gaff\_djvu.txt
13. ↑ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27703852/
14. ↑ http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/10/jeddaherdan-aleadonta-agamid-lizard.html
15. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308402302\_The\_first\_iguanian\_lizard\_from\_the\_Mesozoic\_of\_Africa
16. ↑ https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Alanqa
17. ↑ https://palaeopedia.tumblr.com/post/52046812947/the-scaly-lepidotes-1832-phylum-chordata
18. ↑ https://prehistoric-wiki.fandom.com/wiki/Lepidotes
19. ↑ https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/rugops.html
20. ↑ https://www.newdinosaurs.com/rugops/
21. ↑ http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/m-8381
22. ↑ https://animallist.weebly.com/alligator-gar.html
23. ↑ https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/atractosteus-spatula/
24. ↑ https://eurekamag.com/research/037/007/037007404.php
25. ↑ https://www.jstor.org/stable/41407704
26. ↑ https://www.pteros.com/pterosaurs/afrotapejara.html
27. ↑ https://www.gbif.org/species/8621561
28. ↑ https://dinosaur-discourse.tumblr.com/post/144411122625/crocodylo-month-day-15-araripesuchus
29. ↑ http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/e/elosuchus.html
30. ↑ https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Elosuchus
31. ↑ https://tropical-fish-keeping.com/queensland-lungfish-neoceratodus-forsteri.html
32. ↑ https://www.sci.news/paleontology/leptostomia-begaaensis-08951.html
33. ↑ https://prehistoric-wiki.fandom.com/wiki/Mawsonia
34. ↑ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.896111/full
35. ↑ https://www.quora.com/What-were-the-most-interesting-prehistoric-ecosystems
36. ↑ http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/m/mawsonia.html
37. ↑ https://everythingdinosaurs.weebly.com/deltadromeus.html
38. ↑ http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/d/deltadromeus.html
39. ↑ https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/news/plesiosaur-fossils-found-in-the-sahara
40. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362191343\_Plesiosaurs\_from\_the\_fluvial\_Kem\_Kem\_Group\_mid-Cretaceous\_of\_eastern\_Morocco\_and\_a\_review\_of\_non-marine\_plesiosaurs
41. ↑ https://dinosaursandbarbarians.com/2022/05/13/leptocleidus/
42. ↑ https://www.earthtouchnews.com/discoveries/fossils/this-huge-ancient-sawfish-had-harpoons-on-its-face/
43. ↑ https://incertaesedisblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/18/onchopristis-is-a-sawskate-not-a-sawfish/
44. ↑ http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/o/onchopristis.html
45. ↑ https://www.pteros.com/pterosaurs/alanqa.html
46. ↑ http://dinorover.debashish.com/dinos/alanqa/
47. ↑ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/111109-shieldcroc-crocodiles-fossils-science-aegisuchus-witmeri
48. ↑ https://www.fossilera.com/pages/kem-kem-beds-history-paleoecology-and-importance
49. ↑ https://www.fossilcrates.com/blogs/news/i-rebbachisaurus-i-moroccan-sauropod
50. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/science/spinosaurus-underwater-dinosaur.html
51. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/animal/Spinosaurus
52. ↑ https://www.livescience.com/24120-spinosaurus.html
53. ↑ https://www.thoughtco.com/things-to-know-carcharodontosaurus-1093777
54. ↑ http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/c/carcharodontosaurus.html