Bahariasaurus (meaning "Bahariya lizard") was originally thought to be a very large carnivorousdinosaur. It is probably synonymous with Deltadromeus, another predatory dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Africa.[1] It was a huge theropod, in the same size range as Tyrannosaurus and the contemporary genera Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus.[2]
The type species, B. ingens, was described by Ernst Stromer in 1934,[3] though the type specimen was destroyed during World War II. The exact placement of Bahariasaurus is uncertain. It has been variously assigned to several theropod groups, including Carcharodontosauridae (by Rauhut in 1995) and Tyrannosauroidea (by Chure in 2000). More specimens would be needed to more accurately classify it, and to determine its relationship to Deltadromeus.[4][5]
The only fossils confidently assigned Bahariasaurus were found in the 1910s in the Bahariya oasis in by Ernst Stromer. Unfortunately, these materials were destroyed during a World War II bombing. This same raid took the holotypes of Spinosaurus, Aegyptosaurus and other Bahariya fauna. More fossils were tentatively assigned from the Farak Formation.[6] A 2020 study lumps Bahariasaurus into Deltadromeus as a nomen dubium,[7] but some, including Mickey Mortimer, believe otherwise.[8][9] Lapparent (1960) referred three vertebrae from Niger to B. ingens, but they likely have titanosaurian affinities (possibly conspecific)[10].
Description[]
Ernst Stromer next to a femur of Bahariasaurus
Bahariasaurus was quite a large theropod. The type species, B. ingens, is only known from post-cranial material.
Size[]
Bahariasaurus is currently estimated at 11 to 12 meters (36 to 39 feet long), 3.3 meters tall (10 feet tall), and anywhere from 3 to 4.5 tonnes (3.9 to 5.4 tons). Approaching and/or surpassing the maximum size for most giant theropods such as Tyrannosaurus and Saurophaganax.
Classification[]
Ernst Stromer (1931) proposed that Bahariasaurus and Carcharodontosaurus were closely related, and thus erected carcharodontosauridae to house them[11]. Paul (1988) placed Bahariasaurus as an allosaurine allosaurid based on "classic" allosaur traits, where he cites narrow tyrannosaur-like pubes, a tyrannosaur-like fibular shank and an allosaur-like femur. Paul also states that Bahariasaurus was once considered an allosaur and has the most tyrannosaur-like gait of (what he defines as) Allosaurinae[12].
Phylogeny[]
Due to its extremely fragmentary nature, Bahariasaurus has been placed in several clades of Theropoda. Rauhut (1995) placed it in Carcharodontosauridae, and Chure (2000) placed it in Tyrannosauroidea. The description of Aoniraptor in 2016 placed Bahariasaurus and Deltadromeus in Megaraptora.
Paleobiology[]
Restoration of Bahariasaurus (far right background) with contemporaneous animals of the Bahariya Formation
Bahariasaurus is one of the largest known theropods, being 11-12 metres long and 4 tonnes heavy. [13][14]
Baharisaurus with other contemporaneous Theropods.
Caudals from Wadi Milk, probably not referable to B. ingens.
BSP 1922 X 47: Assigned syntype, this specimen consists of dorsal vertebrae, a rib fragment, a sacral fragment, conjoined pubes and a proximal ischium[20] from Gebel Ghorâbi[21].
BSP 1922 X 48: A cervical and two dorsals, assigned syntype[20].
BSP 1922 X 48B: Pubes assigned to the syntype[20].
BSP 1912 VIII 62: a possible D1 neural arch, partial dorsal centrum, a dorsal, a dorsal centrum, a caudal, an ilium and a proximal pubis, all referred[20].
BSP 1912 VIII 74: A referred proximal ischium[20].
BSP 1912 VIII 60: A skull fragment, scapula, coracoid, vertebral centrum and caudal tentatively referred[20].
BSP 1912 VIII 69: A tentatively referred femur[20].
BSP 1911 XII 32: A tentatively referred femur[20].
BSP 1912 VIII 70: A tentatively referred fibula[20].
BSP 1912 VIII 77: Tentatively referred partial scapula and fragmented coracoid[20].
BSP 1912 VIII 92: 3 large, partial chevrons, later referred to Bahariasaurus by Stromer (1936)[22]Template:Cite.
Vb-607, Vb-717 and Vb-870: Bahariasaurus-like anterior and mid-caudals labelled carcharodontosauridae indet. from the Wadi Milk Formation, on the assumption that Bahariasaurus is an allosauroid[23]. Weishampel (2004) note Bahariasaurus sp. from this formation, which may be in reference to these caudals[24]. However, these caudals are likely of Campanian age, so their referral is questionable[25].
Very little is known about Bahariasaurus as only a small number of hipbones have been found. Even those were lost, however, when Allied bombs destroyed the German museum where the bones were housed during WWII. Bahariasaurus was probably a large meat-eater, almost as big as T. rex. It might have looked like Carcharodontosaurus, which lived in the same area of North Africa.
A number of these bones were found by German paleontologists shortly before WWI. In the early 1930's they were named Bahariasaurus and identified as coming from a huge carnivore. WWI ended the original search for the specimen and WWII destroyed what had been found. Some scientists have suggested that Bahariasaurus may have been part of the Tyrannosauridae family.
↑Stromer, E. (1934). "Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharije-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman)." 13. Dinosauria. Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung n.f., 22: 1–79.
↑Rauhut, (1995). "Zur systematischen Stellung der afrikanischen Theropoden Carcharodontosaurus Stromer 1931 und Bahariasaurus Stromer 1934." Berliner geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, E16 (Gundolf-Ernst-Festschrift): 357-375.
↑Chure, (2000). "A new species of Allosaurus from the Morrison Formation of Dinosaur National Monument (Utah-Colorado) and a revision of the theropod family Allosauridae." Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1-964.
↑de Lapparent A. F. (1960) "The dinosaurs of the “Continental Intercalaire” of the central Sahara". Memoirs of the Geological Society of France39: 1-60.
↑Naish, Darren. Dinopedia: A Brief Compendium of Dinosaur Lore. Princeton University Press, 2021.
↑Paul, G. S., 1988, Predatory Dinosaurs of the World, a complete Illustrated guide: New York Academy of sciences book
↑ 20.0020.0120.0220.0320.0420.0520.0620.0720.0820.0920.1020.11Stromer, E. (1934). "Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharije-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman)." 13. Dinosauria. Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung n.f., 22: 1–79.
