Ass. Lect. Belal Shehta Fathy Rezk Salem :: Publications:

Sauropod dinosaurs from the post-Cenomanian Cretaceous (PCC; ~94–66 Ma) of continental Africa (excluding Madagascar) and the then-conjoined Arabian Peninsula are almost exclusively represented by isolated, poorlyinformative fossils. One of the handful of exceptions in this regard is the lithostrotian titanosaur Mansourasaurus shahinae, recently identified from an associated partial cranial and postcranial skeleton excavated from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Quseir Formation of the Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt. Here we describe a new and well preserved associated titanosaurian partial skeleton recovered from penecontemporaneous beds of the Quseir Formation in the Kharga Oasis, Egypt. The skeleton pertains to an osteologically mature individual that is comparable in estimated body size to the Mansourasaurus type specimen. The new skeleton includes one strongly opisthocoelous posterior cervical vertebra, five incomplete and moderately opisthocoelous anterior to posterior dorsal vertebrae, a procoelous anterior caudal vertebra, and the articulated right tibia and astragalus. The bones exhibit features found in other titanosaurs, such as camellate internal tissue and coalesced posterior centrodiapophyseal and centropostzygapophyseal laminae in all preserved dorsal vertebrae. The posterior dorsals possess a distinctive lamina complex that is ‘M-shaped’ in lateral view and that results from the extensive ventral bifurcation of the centroparapophyseal and centrodiapophyseal laminae into wide anterior and posterior centroparapophyseal and centrodiapophyseal laminae, respectively. These vertebrae also have deep, dorsoventrally elongate parapophyseal centrodiapophyseal and postzygapophyseal centrodiapophyseal fossae. The centrodiapophyseal fossa is divided by a weakly developed lamina, as in dorsal vertebrae of Mansourasaurus. The posterior dorsal vertebrae lack the postzygodiapophyseal lamina, a trait seen in some European and Asian titanosaurians. The tibia appears more robust than those of another undescribed titanosaurian partial skeleton from the Quseir Formation of the Kharga Oasis collected by a German expedition in 1977. The new specimen augments the meager record of PCC titanosaurian sauropods from the Afro-Arabian mainland and offers additional anatomical information regarding the axial skeleton of these herbivorous dinosaurs. Ongoing study of the specimen promises to clarify its phylogenetic affinities and paleobiogeographic significance.