A Giant Sauropod Dinosaur from an Upper Cretaceous Mangrove Deposit in Egypt

Joshua B. Smith, Matthew C. Lamanna, Kenneth J. Lacovara, Peter Dodson, Jennifer R. Smith, Jason C. Poole, Robert Giegengack, and Yousry Attia
Science Jun 1 2001: 1704-1706.

Discovery Of "Tidal Giant" -- A New Egyptian Dinosaur -- Reported In Science

The partial skeleton of a massive sauropod dinosaur, unearthed at an Egyptian site that its discoverers call "dinosaur heaven," makes its debut in the 1 June issue of the international journal Science. Dubbed Paralititan stromeri, the dinosaur is one of the largest ever discovered from the Cretaceous period (about 146 to 65 million years ago) in Africa, and may be the second most massive dinosaur ever found.

The discovery of Paralititan, whose name means "tidal giant," also marks the revival of Egypt's Bahariya Oasis as a paleontological treasure trove. In the early 20th century, teams led by German geologist Ernst Stromer uncovered a wealth of Late Cretaceous fossils at the site, including four dinosaur species, but the fossils were destroyed during an Allied attack on Munich in World War II. Paralititan is the first dinosaur discovery reported from the site since 1935.

The Science authors, led by Joshua B. Smith of the University of Pennsylvania, hope that Paralititan and other discoveries at Bahariya will help answer some questions about a relatively mysterious time and place in vertebrate history. Scientists have found groups of vertebrates that were common to South America and Madagascar during the Late Cretaceous, but these same groups appear to be missing from Africa. Some paleontologists think this pattern exists because the South American and Malagasy land masses were somehow connected at the time, to the exclusion of Africa.

The Science researchers suggest, however, that this puzzling absence may be simply a matter of fewer researchers working at African sites, making fewer discoveries to fill in the gap.

"The fact that there isn't a lot of information about Late Cretaceous vertebrates in Africa might be a function of the lack of people looking for them," says Smith.

An analysis of Paralititan 's skeletal features convinced the researchers that the fossil was a new species of titanosaurid, a group of long-necked, long-tailed, plant-eating dinosaurs that includes some of the largest land animals ever. Paralititan certainly holds its own in the weight category. Its humerus, or upper arm bone, measures 1.69 meters in length, and is about 14 percent longer than the next largest Cretaceous sauropod humerus. Estimates of Paralititan 's' overall body size suggest that it may have been one of the heaviest terrestrial vertebrates yet discovered, with the largest specimens stretching 90 to 100 feet in length and weighing 75-80 tons.

Smith and colleagues discovered the partial skeleton preserved in fine-grained sediments full of plant remains and root casts. The overall geology of the site suggests that Bahariya may have once resembled the tropical mangrove coasts of Florida, a low-energy, shallow water area of tidal flats and tidal channels, say the authors.

Paralititan 's skeleton appears to lie where it first fell, since the parts of the skeleton are associated, and the bones of carcass couldn't have been carried by the low velocity currents or floated to their final resting place in the shallow waters. But that doesn't mean that this final rest was undisturbed. Smith and colleagues also uncovered evidence that the skeleton was scavenged by another dinosaur.

"The skeleton was spread around in sort of an odd way, and the bones weren't separated at the bone sutures. In fact, the pelvis was ripped apart, just torn to bits," says Smith. The researchers also uncovered the probable scavenger's calling card-a tooth, too big to have been transported to the site, possibly from the carnivorous dinosaur Carcharodontosaurus.

Along with Paralititan, the Science researchers uncovered other fossils that they believe may belong to some of Stromer's lost dinosaur species, as well as fossils from fish, crab, coelacanth, and crocodile-like species. Many of these fossils are giants in their own right, causing Smith and colleagues to speculate on the special nature of the Egyptian site.

"It's really weird, because along with Paralititan and other big sauropods, we also have three carnivores in this system that are the size of T. rex. The amount of biomass in this area had to be enormous to support all that," says Smith.

Noting the abundant plant remains at the site, the researchers suggest that the area in the Late Cretaceous may have been one of the most productive systems on earth, much like a modern rainforest.

"We may have stumbled on dinosaur heaven at Bahariya," says Smith.

The research team plans to return to the site at the end of this year, continuing work that they hope will give them a better picture of Paralititan 's place within the entire ecosystem.

The other members of the research team include Matthew C. Lamanna, Peter Dodson, Jennifer R. Smith, and Robert F. Giegengack at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Kenneth J. Lacovara at Drexel University, Philadelphia, Jason C. Poole at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and Yousry Attia at the Egyptian Geological Survey and Mining Authority, Cairo, Egypt. This research was supported in part by Cosmos Studios, MPH Entertainment, the University of Pennsylvania, the Andrew K. Mellon Foundation, E. de Hellebranth, and the Delaware Valley Paleontological Society.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by American Association For The Advancement Of Science for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to quote from any part of this story, please credit American Association For The Advancement Of Science as the original source. You may also wish to include the following link in any citation:

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New species of dinosaur unearthed in Egypt

Grad students find gargantuan Paralititan
buried in Sahara oasis for 94 million years

ANNE McILROY SCIENCE REPORTER
Friday, June 1, 2001, The Global & Mail ,Toronto, Canada

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Researchers have discovered a colossal new species of dinosaur in Egypt, one of the heaviest creatures to have walked the Earth.

Its name, Paralititan, means tidal giant. The long-necked, long-tailed vegetarian could have straddled a modern African elephant.

Its humerus, the bone that connected its shoulder to its elbow, is about the size of the average Canadian woman. Longer than two school buses placed end to end, it likely weighed 60 to 70 tonnes.

Experts say the find is significant because very little is known about African dinosaurs. The period in which Paralititan lived is still a mystery to paleontologists. Very few specimens have been found dating to between 85 million and 100 million years ago, in the middle of the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs were dominant. This particular specimen appears to have died 94 million years ago while munching on leaves in a tidal mangrove swamp that probably looked much like the Florida Everglades of today.

"This is really neat science," said Hans-Dieter Sues, a specialist in predatory dinosaurs at the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Toronto.

The dinosaur was dug up last year by a group of American graduate students who obtained funding for their seven-week expedition from a film company that sent a crew along to make a documentary.

They knew they had made a big discovery when they realized that what they had thought were two distinct fossils at opposite ends of the Sahara desert quarry were actually one giant arm bone.

"We knew we had a big animal, but we didn't know how big," said Matthew Lamanna, a 25-year-old graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania.

He said the new species is close in size to Argentinosaurus, the biggest terrestrial animal found so far. It was excavated in 1989 in Argentina and looked very similar to Paralititan. Both animals had extremely small brains, and would have had to feed constantly to fuel their huge bodies.

The students had set out to look for dinosaurs in Egypt's Bahariya Oasis, 290 kilometres southwest of Cairo. At the same site, before the First World War, German geologist Ernst Stromer found three large predatory dinosaurs, including Spinosaurus, which had a large sail-like structure growing out its back.

The fossils were stored in a museum opposite Nazi party headquarters in Munich and were destroyed by Allied bombing in the Second World War. Dr. Stromer, who opposed the Nazis, lost most of his family in the war. As punishment for his political views, his sons were sent to the Russian front where they died.

"It is a very tragic story. This man who spent his life's work documenting this remarkable fossil assemblage died with all his fossils lost, and as a price for his independence and decency most of his family had been killed too," Dr. Sues said.

He was consulted about the African dig because he has a rare copy of the original monographs prepared by Dr. Stromer.

The fossils destroyed during the war were one of a kind. The students from the University of Pennsylvania had set out to see whether they could find similar specimens. They were the first dinosaur hunters to return to the area since 1935.

"We were trying to find Spinosaurus," Mr. Lamanna said. "Instead, we found something new."

He and his close friend, team leader Josh Smith, are living a grad student's dream. Their find is featured in today's edition of the journal Science, and a feature-length documentary about their story, The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt,will air on A&E late this year.

They have dubbed the fossil site "dinosaur heaven" and brought back 2,000 kilograms of bones. They have already been back once since finding the big dinosaur, and are planning further expeditions.
The tidal giant
Paralititan (tidal giant)
The skeleton proved to be a new species of titanosaurid, a group of long-necked, long-tailed, plant-eating dinosaurs that includes some of the largest animals ever.
The remains of the skeleton were discovered in fine grain sediment full of plant remains. The geology of the site suggests that Bahariya may have once resembled the tropical mangrove coasts of Florida.
Estimates of overall body size indicate that it may been one of the heaviest dinosaurs yet discovered, with the largest specimens stretching to 27-30 metres in length and weighing 75-80 tonnes.

May 31, 2001 Posted: 2:58 PM EDT (1858 GMT)

From Ann Kellan
CNN Technology Unit

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- One of the two most massive dinosaurs ever known has been uncovered in a barren stretch of Egypt, scientists announced Thursday.

The 70-ton plant-eater was discovered in what is now the Sahara Desert. But eons ago the area was filled with mangrove swamps, said University of Pennsylvania researchers, who reported their findings in the May 31 edition of the journal Science.

When paleontologists dug up the first bone two years ago, a 5-foot-7-inch upper arm bone, they knew they had hit the jackpot -- it came from a giant dinosaur never seen before.

"It was very stocky. It was a big boy. It wasn't the longest. It wasn't the tallest. It was heavy," said University of Pennsylvania paleontologist Josh Smith, lead author of the Science report.

The animal weighed about 70 tons, and was perhaps 100 feet long. They named it Paralititan, meaning "tidal giant."

"It ate plants. It was one of the long-neck, long-tailed herbivorous dinosaurs we like to see walking around in herds off in the distance," he said.

Paralititan had some mean looking predators in its day, as big as and similar to the Giganotosaurus called Carcareadontisaurus, as big as the famous T. rex. But T. rex didn't come around until 30 million years later.

"I don't know how tall. He would look through a third story window without too much trouble," Smith said.

A difficult dig

Digging for bones in the Sahara desert wasn't easy. When Smith and his team found hip, leg and tailbones, they sometimes worked in punishing sandstorms that covered things up only seconds after they uncovered them.

"It was difficult. Getting the bones out of the ground was a real trial," he said. "There were days we couldn't work because we couldn't see."

The team came to the area known as the Bahariya Oasis because of noted German paleontologist Ernst Stroemer. More than 60 years ago, he found dinosaur bones there, but most of the area was destroyed in World War II.

Smith was trying to follow in Stroemer's footsteps, but got lost.

"And because I'm an idiot and can't read a map, we ended up in the wrong place," Smith said. "I had my head hanging out the window in the Land Cruiser and we drove right past the Paralititan site."

"The bone was sitting on the desert. We drove right by it. And I said, 'Hey, that looks like a bone.' And so we swung around and the rest is history. That giant one was sitting about a foot under the first bone that we saw."

Area once tropical

They were also surprised to discover the desert was once a lush tropical mangrove, similar to the Florida Everglades.

"We have forests that are actually growing in salt water. At the time Paralititan was alive, there was a coastline that ran through the center of Egypt," said Kenneth Lacovara, a geologist with Drexel University, in Philadelphia.

"They were some of the most powerful creatures to have ever lived and they dominated the planet for 140 million to 160 million years. If they could go extinct and if the Everglades could turn into the Sahara, then almost anything is possible in the future," he said.

The team hopes to return to Egypt. They don't expect to be lucky enough to find any more giants, but they anticipate a treasure trove of other plants and animals buried in the sand.