Name:
Mansourasaurus
(Mansoura lizard).
Phonetic: Man-sor-a-sor-us.
Named By: Hesham M. Sallam, Eric Gorscak,
Patrick M. O'Connor, Iman A. El-Dawoudi, Sanaa El-Sayed,
Sara Saber, Mahmoud A. Kora, Joseph J. W. Sertich, Erik
R. Seiffert & Matthew C. Lamanna - 2018.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Titanosauria,
Lithostrotia.
Species: M. shahinae (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Holotype individual estimated somewhere about
8-10 meters long. Full adult size unknown.
Known locations: Egypt - Quseir Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial
skeleton. Partial lower braincase. Remains are of a younger not
fully grown individual.
Mansourasaurus
is a genus of titanosaurian
sauropod dinosaur that lived in North
Africa during the late Cretaceous. The discovery of Mansourasaurus
was significant in itself because North African fossil beds often do
not yield remains of larger dinosaurs like sauropods. This is partly
because the harsh arid conditions of North Africa will often cause
fossils to erode as soon as they are exposed from the rock that
concealed them.
Although
only known from partial remains, Mansourasaurus
has been identified
as a titanosaur, the common type of sauropod dinosaur present in the
late Cretaceous. More specifically, Mansourasaurus
is thought to be
a lithostrotian titanosaur.
Further reading
- New dinosaur remains from the campanian quseir formation, western
desert, Egypt - Iman El-Dawoudi, Patrick M O'Connor, Mahmoud
Kora & Joseph J W Sertich - 2016.