Dinosaurs / Cretaceous / Aegyptosaurus
Aegyptosaurus
Cretaceous ee-JIP-toh-SAWR-us, “Egypt lizard”
Aegyptosaurus was a mid-sized sauropod described by German palaeontologist Ernst Stromer in 1932 based on specimens from Egypt's Bahariya Oasis. Dating to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, it coexisted with predators like Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, as well as the colossal sauropod Paralititan. Aegyptosaurus reached around fifteen metres in total length. Tragically, the original fossils, which included limb bones, caudal vertebrae, and scapulae, were housed in the Palaeontological Museum in Munich and completely obliterated during a British Royal Air Force bombing raid on 24 April 1944.
All known fossil material was destroyed during an Allied bombing raid on Munich in 1944.
Where and when
Aegyptosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 99.6 to 93.5 million years ago (Cenomanian age). Its remains come from Egypt and Niger, in the Bahariya Formation.
The numbers
Length 15 m (estimates run from 14 to 16 m). Mass about 9.2 t. Hip height about 3.8 m. That is 8.8 human-lengths, or 1.34 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.