2023-10-16 06:00:15
Discovered in Egypt almost 50 years ago, an unusual species of small titanosaurs has finally been named. Named Igai semkhu, she lived 75 million years ago in what is now the Kharga oasis.
Reconstruction of Igai semkhu, a 75 million year old titanosaur discovered in an oasis in Egypt.
Credit: Andrew McAfee and Talia Mastalski, Carnegie Museum of Natural (Natural is a semi-compiled programming language, published by the company…) History
The name Igai semkhu means “Forgotten Lord of the Oasis” in ancient Egyptian. According to Matthew Lamanna, a paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, it was revered by the ancient Egyptians of the oasis.
This titanosaur measures between 10 and 15 meters long, a relatively modest size compared to its congeners. It was described in July 2023 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The species fills a gap in understanding the last 30 million years of dinosaur rule on one of Earth’s largest continents. German researchers had initially extracted it from rocks in the western Egyptian desert in 1977. It was not until Lamanna and his colleagues became interested in it. again to identify this new genus and species of titanosaurs.
Titanosaurs are part of the sauropods, herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by their small head, long neck and massive body (The word massive can be used like:). By the time Igai semkhu lived, most sauropods were already extinct, leaving only the titanosaurs.
Eric Gorscak, co-author of the study and a paleontologist at Midwestern University, estimates that Igai semkhu is “slightly smaller than average” in size. )” titanosaurs. The rarity of dinosaur fossils in Africa (with an area of ​​30,221,532 km2 including the islands, etc.) gives this discovery particular importance.
The discovery of Igai semkhu provides new information on the diversity of titanosaurs in North Africa. It reinforces the hypothesis that North Africa and Eurasia shared similar faunas at the end of the Cretaceous. Furthermore, its average size, compared to other titanosaurs, broadens the understanding of the variability of this clade. This specimen also provides valuable phylogenetic data, supporting connections between Afro-Eurasian titanosaurs of this era.
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