Dinosaur remains from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) of the Western Desert, Egypt

Salem, Belal S.; O’Connor, Patrick M.; Gorscak, Eric; El-Sayed, Sanaa; Sertich, Joseph J. W.; Seiffert, Erik R.; Sallam, Hesham

doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104783

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Locally, the Quseir Variegated Shales is rich in plant remains, but it is generally unfossiliferous. Recently, a titanosaurian sauropod, Mansourasaurus shahinae, was recovered from the upper member of the formation north of the road between Mut and Balat [59], along with sauropod and non-avian theropod remains [60]. The Quseir Variegated Shales has few useful index fossils and so its age is uncertain, but it is typically assigned to the Campanian [49,55,59,[61][62][63].…”

Section: Stratigraphy and Agementioning

confidence: 99%

A Prognathodontin Mosasaur from the Maastrichtian of the Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

El-Kheir,

Shaker,

Street

et al. 2023

Fossil Studies

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Mosasaurs were diverse in the Upper Cretaceous in Africa, but relatively little is known about the mosasaur fauna of Egypt. Here, associated teeth and postcranial skeletal elements are reported for a mosasaur from the Maastrichtian Dakhla Shale of the Dakhla Oasis. The specimen includes tooth crowns, cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, and ribs. Teeth and bones exhibit features allowing referral to Prognathodontini. The teeth are relatively straight and blunt, suggesting affinities with Prognathodon overtoni or P. currii. Prognathodontins were important predators in the Maastrichtian of Africa, previously being recorded in Morocco, Congo, and Angola.

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Section: Stratigraphy and Agementioning

confidence: 99%

A Prognathodontin Mosasaur from the Maastrichtian of the Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

El-Kheir,

Shaker,

Street

et al. 2023

Fossil Studies

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“…Dinosaurs from the end of the Cretaceous remain poorly known in Africa and the Afro-Arabian plate, especially compared to the faunas of North America and Asia. Only a handful of localities, in Egypt 1 – 4 , Angola 5 , Oman 6 , and Morocco 7 – 10 have produced Campanian—Maastrichtian dinosaurs. Initial finds suggested African dinosaurs resembled those of other Gondwanan landmasses, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new small duckbilled dinosaur (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) from Morocco and dinosaur diversity in the late Maastrichtian of North Africa

Longrich,

Pereda-Suberbiola,

Bardet

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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In the Late Cretaceous, northern and southern hemispheres evolved distinct dinosaurian faunas. Titanosaurians and abelisaurids dominated the Gondwanan continents; hadrosaurids, ceratopsians and tyrannosaurs dominated North America and Asia. Recently, a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid, Ajnabia odysseus, was reported from the late Maastrichtian phosphates of the Oulad Abdoun Basin Morocco, suggesting dispersal between Laurasia and Gondwana. Here we report new fossils from the phosphates of Morocco showing lambeosaurines achieved high diversity in the late Maastrichtian of North Africa. A skull represents a new dwarf lambeosaurine, Minqaria bata. Minqaria resembles Ajnabia odysseus in size, but differs in the ventrally positioned jugal facet and sinusoidal toothrow. The animal is small, ~ 3.5 m long, but the fused braincase shows it was mature. A humerus and a femur belong to larger hadrosaurids, ~ 6 m long, implying at least three species coexisted. The diversity of hadrosaurids in Europe and Africa suggests a dispersal-driven radiation, with lambeosaurines diversifying to take advantage of low ornithischian diversity. African lambeosaurines are small compared to North American and Asia hadrosaurids however, perhaps due to competition with titanosaurians. Hadrosaurids are unknown from eastern Africa, suggesting Moroccan hadrosaurids may be part of a distinct insular fauna, and represent an island radiation.

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“…Moreover, a few additional, possible abelisaurid (or abelisauroid) skeletal elements have been reported from the same general geographical area: two ungual phalanges from the Duwi Formation [ 9 ] and the proximal end of a small tibia from the slightly older (Campanian) Nubian Sandstone [ 2 , 11 ]. Other putative abelisauroid materials have been recovered from the Western Desert of Egypt, and include the proximal portion of a left fibula from the Campanian Quseir Formation of the Kharga Oasis [ 8 ] and tooth crowns [ 12 ] and appendicular bones from the Cenomanian Bahariya Formation of the Bahariya Oasis; some of the latter were referred to cf. Elaphrosaurus bambergi or aff.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, despite the rich and ever-increasing middle and Late Cretaceous non-avian dinosaur record of Egypt (e.g. [5][6][7][8]), only highly fragmentary evidence of Abelisauridae has as yet come to light from this nation and northeastern Africa in general. At present, the only unquestioned abelisaurid fossil from Egypt is an isolated tooth from an exposure of the uppermost Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) Duwi Formation near Idfu in the southern Nile Valley region [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First definitive record of Abelisauridae (Theropoda: Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt

et al. 2022

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Numerous non-avian theropod dinosaur fossils have been reported from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt, but unambiguous materials of Abelisauridae have yet to be documented. Here we report Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (MUVP) specimen 477, an isolated, well-preserved tenth cervical vertebra of a medium-sized abelisaurid from the Bahariya Formation. The new vertebra shows affinities with those of other Upper Cretaceous abelisaurids from Madagascar and South America, such as Majungasaurus crenatissimus , Carnotaurus sastrei , Viavenator exxoni and a generically indeterminate Patagonian specimen (Museo Padre Molina specimen 99). Phylogenetic analysis recovers the Bahariya form within Abelisauridae, either in a polytomy of all included abelisaurids (strict consensus tree) or as an early branching member of the otherwise South American clade Brachyrostra (50% majority rule consensus tree). MUVP 477, therefore, represents the first confirmed abelisaurid fossil from the Bahariya Formation and the oldest definitive record of the clade from Egypt and northeastern Africa more generally. The new vertebra demonstrates the wide geographical distribution of Abelisauridae across North Africa during the middle Cretaceous and augments the already extraordinarily diverse large-bodied theropod assemblage of the Bahariya Formation, a record that also includes representatives of Spinosauridae, Carcharodontosauridae and Bahariasauridae.

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Dinosaur remains from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) of the Western Desert, Egypt

Cited by 6 publications

References 39 publications

A Prognathodontin Mosasaur from the Maastrichtian of the Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

A Prognathodontin Mosasaur from the Maastrichtian of the Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

A new small duckbilled dinosaur (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) from Morocco and dinosaur diversity in the late Maastrichtian of North Africa

First definitive record of Abelisauridae (Theropoda: Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt

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