Rare dinosaur discovery in Egypt could signal more finds
MANSOURA, Egypt — A skeleton has been unearthed in Egypt’s Western Desert, where ancient sands have long helped preserve remains, but unlike most finds this one isn’t a mummy — it’s a dinosaur.
Researchers from Mansoura University in the country’s Nile Delta discovered the new species of long-necked herbivore, which is around the size of a city bus, and it could be just the tip of the sand dune for other desert dinosaur discoveries.
“As in any ecosystem, if we went to the jungle we’ll find a lion and a giraffe. So we found the giraffe, where’s the lion?” said Hesham Sallam, leader of the excavation team and head of the university’s Center for Vertebrate Paleontology.
Sallam, along with four Egyptian and five American researchers, authored an article in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution published Jan. 29 announcing the discovery.