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Zeinab al-Gundy – Ahram Online
“A fossil of a predatory dinosaur which lived 98 million years ago has been found in Al-Bahariya Oasis in Egypt’s Western desert”, the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced.
“An Egyptian team of vertebrate palaeontologists in association with the Mansoura University Vertebrate Palaeontology Centre (MUVP) has discovered a fossil belonging to a large carnivorous dinosaur ‘Abelisaurus’ (meaning Abel lizards, or Abel dinosaurs)”, the Ministry added.
The fossil is part of the tenth cervical vertebra of the neck of a huge carnivorous dinosaur. According to the University of Mansoura, the research findings were published in a paper led by researcher Belal Salem and others at the Royal Society Journal.
This is the first time that Abelisaurus fossils have been found in Egypt. It is considered to be the oldest fossil found in North Africa. The Abelisauridae lived during the Cretaceous period (145 to 66 million years ago).
Abelisaurus, or commonly known as Abel, is named after Argentinian Palaeontologist Roberto Abel, who uncovered the first Abelisaurus in Argentina in 1985. A fierce predator in nature, Abel was six metres tall and had a similar look to the famous T-Rex, as both had tiny arms, deep skulls, and huge jaws.
This is not the first time MUVP has announced the discovery of dinosaur fossils in Egypt. In 2018, a team of researchers led by Professor Hesham Sallam drew international attention when they uncovered the plant-eating Cretaceous Period dinosaur named Mansourasaurus shahinae.
In 2021, the team announced the discovery of a 43-million-year-old semiaquatic whale.
