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Aegyptosaurus

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Aegyptosaurus
Temporal range: Albian-Cenomanian, 95 Ma
Illustrations of the femur and humerus, to scale
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Clade: Titanosauria
Genus: Aegyptosaurus
Stromer, 1932
Type species
Aegyptosaurus baharijensis
Stromer, 1932

Aegyptosaurus /ˌɪptˈsɔːrəs/ 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.

Aegyptosaurus was described by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1932.[1] Its fossils have been found in Egypt, Niger (Farak Formation), and in several different locations in the Sahara Desert. 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.

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.