In Depth
Aegyptosaurus was a mid-sized sauropod dinosaur that is known to have lived in what is now Egypt from both sides of the early/late Cretaceous boundary. Unfortunately we only have the original descriptions of this dinosaur for study as the original fossils were destroyed along with the Munich museum during an allied bombing raid in World War II. Despite the lack of actual physical fossils that can be studied anew, Aegyptosaurus is perceived to have been a titanosaur, a member of a group of more advanced sauropods that rose to prominence during the Cretaceous.
Aegyptosaurus may have been a prey species to large carcharodontosaurid theropods, perhaps even the Carcharodontosaurus genus itself. There is no direct proof of predator/prey interaction between these two, but fossils of both genera are present in the Bahar�je Formation of Egypt. The smaller theropod Deltadromeus is also present and may have potentially been a threat to smaller juvenile Aegyptosaurus. Remains of the potentially colossal predator Spinosaurus are also present in the Bahar�je Formation, though since modern interpretations of Spinosaurus perceive it to be a specialised predator of fish, it seems unlikely that Spinosaurus actively hunted dinosaurs like Aegyptosaurus, though of course scavenging them would still be a plausible option.
Further Reading
- Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den W�sten �gyptens. II. Wirbeltierreste der Bahar�je-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 11. Sauropoda -(Results of the expeditions of Professor E. Stromer in the Egyptian deserts. II. Vertebrate animal remains from the Bahar�je bed (lowest Cenomanian). 11. Sauropoda). - Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung, Neue Folge 10:1-21 - Ernst Stromer - 1932.
