Aegyptosaurus

Aegyptosaurus /iːˌdʒɪptoʊˈsɔːrəs/ meaning 'Egypt’s lizard', for the country in which it was discovered (Greek sauros meaning 'lizard') is a genus of sauropod dinosaur believed to have lived in what is now Africa, around 95 million years ago, during the mid- and late-Cretaceous Period (Albian to Cenomanian stages). Like most sauropods, it had a long neck and a small skull. The animal's long tail probably acted as a counterweight to its body mass. Aegyptosaurus was a close relative of Argentinosaurus, a much larger dinosaur found in South America.

Speculative restoration

Aegyptosaurus
Temporal range: Albian-Cenomanian, 95 Ma
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Humerus and femur reconstructions to scale
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Suborder: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Sauropoda
Clade: †Titanosauria
Genus: Aegyptosaurus
Stromer, 1932
Type species
†Aegyptosaurus baharijensis
Stromer, 1932

Aegyptosaurus was described by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1932.[1] Its fossils have been found in the Bahariya Formation of Egypt, Niger (Farak Formation), and in several different locations in the Sahara Desert.[2] All known examples were discovered before 1939. The fossils were stored together in Munich, but were obliterated when an Allied bombing raid destroyed the museum where they were kept in 1944, during World War II. Only fragments have survived until today.

The holotype (1912VIII61) consists of three caudal (tail) vertebrae, a partial scapula (shoulder blade), and some limb bones; of which was discovered in Egypt in 1932. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated its length at 15 meters (50 ft), and its weight at 7 tonnes (7.7 short tons).[3]

References
  1. Stromer, E. (1932a). Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltierreste der Baharîje-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 11. Sauropoda. Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung, Neue Folge, 10: 1-21.
  2. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Africa)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 571-573. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  3. Paul, G.S. (2010). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 205.
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