View source for Biology:Aegyptosaurus

{{short description|Titanosaurid sauropod dinosaur genus from late Cretaceous Period}}
{{automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Earth:Cenomanian|Cenomanian]], <br />~{{fossil range|100|94}}
| image = Aegyptosaurus.png
| image_caption = Humerus and femur reconstructions (from specimen 1912VIII61) to scale
| taxon = Aegyptosaurus
| authority = Stromer, 1932
| type_species = {{extinct}}'''''Aegyptosaurus baharijensis'''''
| type_species_authority = Stromer, 1932
}}

'''''Aegyptosaurus''''' {{IPAc-en|iː|ˌ|dʒ|ɪ|p|t|oʊ-|ˈ|s|ɔːr|ə|s}} (meaning 'Egypt's lizard') is a [[Biology:Genus|genus]] of sauropod [[Biology:Dinosaur|dinosaur]] that lived in what is now [[Earth:Africa|Africa]], around 95 million years ago, during the [[Earth:Late Cretaceous|Late Cretaceous]] Period ([[Earth:Cenomanian|Cenomanian]] faunal stage).

== Discovery and naming ==
The [[Biology:Holotype|holotype]] ('''1912VIII61''') consists of three [[Biology:Vertebra|caudal vertebrae]], a partial [[Biology:Scapula|scapula]], and some limb bones, all of which were discovered in the [[Earth:Bahariya Formation|Bahariya Formation]] of [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]] between 1910 and {{Circa|1913}} by Ernst Stromer and Richard Markgraf<ref name="stromer1932a" /> and the holotype was sent to [[Place:Munich|Munich]], {{wipe|Germany}} in 1915 to be studied at the same time the holotype of ''Spinosaurus aegyptiacus'' was described.<ref>Stromer, E. (1915). "Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharije-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 3. Das Original des Theropoden Spinosaurus aegyptiacus nov. gen., nov. spec". ''Abhandlungen der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-physikalische Klasse'' (in German). 28 (3): 1–32.</ref>

[[File:Aegyptosaurus-holotype.jpg|thumb|250px|Specimen 1912VIII61, the holotype of ''A. baharijensis''|left]]
''Aegyptosaurus'' was described by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1932, seventeen years after the holotype was sent to Munich,<ref name="stromer1932a">Stromer, E. (1932a). [https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/Abhandlungen-Akademie-Bayern_NF_10_0001-0021.pdf   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.</ref> and its fossils have been found in the [[Earth:Bahariya Formation|Bahariya Formation]] of [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], the [[Earth:Farak Formation|Farak Formation]] of Niger and in several other different locations in the Sahara Desert.<ref>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}}.</ref> The generic name, ''Aegyptosaurus'', is derived from the country in which it was discovered and the [[Social:Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''sauros'' meaning 'lizard'. All of the specimens destroyed in 1944 were discovered before 1939 and the fossils were stored together in [[Place:Munich|Munich]], but were obliterated when an Allied bombing raid destroyed the museum where they were kept on 25 April 1944, during [[Social:World War II|World War II]]. Only fragments from other specimens still exist, mostly in the form of indeterminate specimens from [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]] and Niger.<ref name=Lapp60 /><ref name="Rogers05">Curry Rogers, K. (2005), "Titanosauria: A Phylogenetic Overview" in Curry Rogers and Wilson (eds), ''The Sauropods: Evolution and Paleobiology'' pp. 50–103</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Fanti, F. |author2=Cau, A. |author3=Hassine, M. |date=February 2014 |title=Evidence for titanosauriforms and rebbachisaurids (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Tunisia |journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences|volume=90|pages=1–8|doi=10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2013.10.010|bibcode=2014JAfES..90....1F }}</ref>
[[File:Aegyptosaurus LM.png|left|thumb|Speculative restoration]]

de Lapparent (1960) referred a series of caudal vertebrae from the Continental intercalaire of [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]] to ''Aegyptosaurus baharijensis.''<ref name=Lapp60>de Lapparent, A.F. (1960): "Les dinosauriens du "continental intercalaire" du Sahara central" ("The dinosaurs of the "continental intercalaire" of the central Sahara.") ''Mémoires de la Société Géologic de France, Nouvelle Série'' '''88A''' vol.39(1-6):1-57.</ref>

== Description ==
In 2010, based on ''Paralititan'' and other related titanosaurs, [[Biography:Gregory S. Paul|Gregory S. Paul]] estimated the length of ''Aegyptosaurus'' at {{Convert|15|m|ft}}, and its weight at {{Convert|7|tonnes|ST}}.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Paul|first=G.S.|title=The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2010|location=New Jersey|pages=205}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q131577}}

[[Category:Titanosaurs]]
[[Category:Albian life]]
[[Category:Cenomanian life]]
[[Category:Bahariya Formation]]

{{Sourceattribution|Aegyptosaurus}}