Dino, Dino, Dino

By Ben Korkowski '19

In 2013, Archeologists landed upon one of the greatest findings in archaeological history -- the Mansourasaurus shahinae. It is the size of a school bus and is said to have weighed close to 5.5 tons, yet it is only the lower scale of dinosaurs in terms of nearest relatives which are estimated to have weighed closer to 65 tons. It is not the weight of Mansourasaurus shahinae that causes it to be considered the “Holy Grail” of dinosaurs, but rather the location in which it was excavated. The excavation site was surprisingly unique due to being located in the Sahara desert, where not many remnants of dinosaurs had ever been found.

Underdeveloped infrastructure and political conflict have made it difficult for paleontologists to find African dinosaurs; yet with this most recent discovery, scientists at Mansoura University have been given permission to continue searching for dinosaurs in Egypt. Most intriguing, however, was the bone structure of this new species, which had a shockingly closer resemblance to dinosaurs of European and Asian descent; therefore, for the first time, disproving the belief that African and South American dinosaurs came from a fauna which existed in isolation, but rather that they had intermingled with dinosaurs from opposing continents.

These findings have led archeologists to conclude that the migration patterns of these animals were different and more far-reaching than the previous notions because they were roaming across the continents shortly after Pangea had already began to separate. This means that rather than Africa having been considered an island like land mass, such as Australia, some sort of connection had been present. In addition, this creature is said to have dated back to the late Cretaceous period, roughly 80 to 66 million years ago, which marked the final chapter in the age of dinosaurs when a giant meteor smacked into what is now the Yucatán Peninsula. With the marking of this new discovery bringing with it much discourse as well as additional information, its significance to the archeological society is largely important. Findings like these are what many people in the archaeological field work their entire lives towards, yet often never succeed, making this discovery all the more magnificent. Because of these continual themes of discovery and new concepts, this finding is something of miracle, which has greatly aided in the furtherment of society’s understanding of the past and steps towards the future.

Mattimore, Ryan. “The 'Holy Grail' of Dinosaurs Discovered in the Sahara.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 31 Jan. 2018, www.history.com/news/new-dinosaur-discovery-mansourasaurus-shahinae-egypt.

Rice, Doyle. “'Holy Grail' of Dinosaur Fossils Discovered in Egyptian Desert.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 30 Jan. 2018, www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/01/29/holy-grail-dinosaur-fossils-discovered-egyptian-desert/1075419001/.