Mansourasaurus
"Mansoura lizard"
- Lived
- 84 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Sauropods
- Found in
- Egypt
- Named by
- Sallam et al. 2018
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Habitat
Rivers crossed a coastal lowland in what is now Egypt. The Quseir Formation also preserves Igai, unnamed meat-eating dinosaurs, turtles and crocodile relatives.
Field notes
About Mansourasaurus
What it was like
Mansourasaurus was a titanosaur, a long-necked plant eater. It is known from part of a skull and skeleton, which is rare for dinosaurs from this time in Africa.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous, in what is now Egypt. Very few dinosaurs are known from Africa in this part of the Cretaceous. Mansourasaurus looks closely related to titanosaurs from Europe, which suggests animals could still move between the two.
How it was found
Sallam and colleagues named Mansourasaurus in 2018. The name comes from the university whose team found it.
Field gallery
More views of Mansourasaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Mansourasaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Mansourasaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The associated type skeleton includes skull pieces, lower jaws, neck and front back vertebrae, shoulder and forelimb bones, and parts of the hands and feet.
- The lower jaw curves into a rounded arc and has a chin-like projection at the front.
- Fragments of bony armor were found with its skeleton.
Borrowed from relatives
- Tapuiasaurus provides a comparison for the missing upper face.
- Mendozasaurus helps restore the incomplete hands and feet.
Still unknown
- The complete shape of its skull.
- The shape and arrangement of its bony armor.
- Its complete finger and toe anatomy, and whether a separately found ulna belonged to the type individual.
Discovery timeline
- 2018Named itSallam et al.
- 2023Same rocksGorscak et al.
- 2023SkullPoropat et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Mansourasaurus
Named it
Described a partial titanosaur skeleton and linked its relatives to dinosaur dispersal between Europe and Africa.
New Egyptian sauropod reveals Late Cretaceous dinosaur dispersal between Europe and Africa. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2: 445-451
Read the paper : New Egyptian sauropod reveals Late Cretaceous dinosaur dispersal between Europe and Africa (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
Distinguished Igai from Mansourasaurus through shoulder and foot bones, and treated a separately found Mansourasaurus ulna as uncertain.
A new titanosaurian (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Quseir Formation of the Kharga Oasis, Egypt. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 42
Read the paper : A new titanosaurian (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Quseir Formation of the Kharga Oasis, Egypt (opens in a new tab)Skull
Compared titanosaur jaws and highlighted the rounded lower jaw and chin-like projection of Mansourasaurus.
A nearly complete skull of the sauropod dinosaurDiamantinasaurus matildaefrom the Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Australia and implications for the early evolution of titanosaurs. Royal Society Open Science 10
Read the paper : A nearly complete skull of the sauropod dinosaurDiamantinasaurus matildaefrom the Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Australia and implications for the early evolution of titanosaurs (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Diamantinasauria
Sources: Wikidata