Aegyptosaurus
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| Aegyptosaurus Conservation status: Fossil | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Aegyptosaurus baharijensis Stromer, 1932 |
Aegyptosaurus (ee-JIP-toh-sawr-us) meaning “Egypt’s lizard”, where it was discovered (Greek sauros = lizard) is a species of dinosaur believed to have lived in Africa around 95 million years ago, during the mid- and late-Cretaceous period. This quadrupedal sauropod was a herbivore and its fossils have been found in Egypt, Niger 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 a bombing raid destroyed the museum where they were kept in 1944, during World War II.
Aegyptosaurus weighed roughly 10.5 tonnes (11.5 tons), was 50 feet long, and was over 16 feet tall. It had a neck of above average length 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 larger dinosaur found in South America. It has been suggested that it may have evolved from its South American relative after crossing the ancient land bridge between Africa and South America.
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