In Depth
Deltadromeus was a mid-sized theropod that lived in North Africa, but while the time period it is known from places it in the late (or alternatively upper) Cretaceous, it actually roughly lived during the middle of this period. The skull of this dinosaur is so far unknown but the recovered post cranial remains suggest a fairly agile and fast predator that may have preyed upon ornithopod dinosaurs similar to Ouranosaurus. Swift speed may have also helped Deltadromeus to stay out of the way of other much larger meat eating dinosaurs such Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus, both of which seem to have been present in North Africa during the early Cenomanian.
Deltadromeus has an uncertain future as a valid genus as another theropod named Bahariasaurus which was named in 1934 has been suggested as being the same dinosaur as Deltadromeus. The problem here is that the type specimen of Bahariasaurus was destroyed in World War Two, and without further remains it is currently impossible to compare known Bahariasaurus remains with Deltadromeus fossils. Without the possibility of establishing a link Deltadromeus remains a valid genus, but should it ever be proven that these genera are the same; Deltadromeus would become a synonym to Bahariasaurus, with all known remains being reassigned to the latter genus.
Further Reading
– Predatory Dinosaurs from the Sahara and Late Cretaceous Faunal Differentiation. – Science, 272(5264): 986-991. – Paul C. Sereno, Didier B. Dutheil, M. Iarochene, Hans C. E. Larsson, Gabrielle H. Lyon, Paul M. Magwene, Christian A. Sidor, David J. Varricchio, Jeffrey A. Wilson – 1996.
