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Paleontologists may have discovered a new species of dinosaur, even though its fossil no longer exists.
Researchers in Munich, Germany claim to have surprisingly identified a new species of large predatory dinosaur from modern Egypt. In detail on January 14 to learn published in the magazine PLOS oneresearchers studied 95 million-year-old reptiles in archival photographs from before World War II.
“It is likely that the dinosaur fauna of North Africa was more diverse than we previously thought. This work shows that it can be worthwhile for paleontologists to dig not only on the ground, but also in old archives,” Oliver Rauhut from the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Geology, who participated in the study, explained in the institution’s statement. statement.
In 1914, fossil collector Richard Markgraf excavated the original partial skeleton in Egypt’s Bahariya Oasis. He sent the remains to paleontologist Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach in Munich, where they were housed in the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Geology at the Old Academy. Stromer identified the dinosaur as a member of the genus CarcharodontosaurusA group of massive meat-eating dinosaurs that lived in North Africa about 99-94 million years ago.
Thirty years later, an Allied air raid on Munich bombed the Old Academy and destroyed parts of the collection, including the fictional work. Carcharodontosaurus. The only remains were descriptions of the bones, a few photographs, and Stromer’s notes. That is, until paleontologist Maximilian Kellermann, a graduate student at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, discovered more archival photos of the 1914 fossil. The photographs showed parts of the fossil’s skull, spine and hind legs and revealed something unexpected.
“We were all surprised by what we saw in the historical images. The Egyptian dinosaur fossil described there differs significantly from the more recent Carcharodontosaurus finds in Morocco. Thus, Stromer’s initial classification was incorrect,” said Kellermann, who led the study. “Here we have identified and named a completely different, previously unknown species of predatory dinosaur Tameryraptor marcgraph.”
According to the study, “Ta-mery” is the ancient Egyptian name for Egypt, meaning “beloved land,” and predator is Latin for “thief.” Tameryraptor means “thief from beloved land”. On the other hand, “Markgrafi” respects the fossil collector.
Along with Elena Cuesta of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Rauhut and Kellermann determined from the photographs that T. margrave it would have been about 33 feet (10 m) long, making it one of the largest carnivores to ever walk the Earth, and it had a remarkable snout and symmetrical teeth. They also found that the giant reptile was related to North Africa CarcharodontosaursThe group of dinosaurs was originally classified as South American Carcharodontosaurs and Metriacanthosaurs— A group of predatory dinosaurs from Asia.
“However, a more comprehensive assessment of the Cretaceous predatory dinosaur fauna at Bahariya Oasis will require the recovery of more fossils from the site,” Rauhut said.
However, it is worth questioning how accurately a new species can be identified from sketches and old black-and-white photos. In the study, the researchers themselves admit that the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature usually advises against “designating material that the author knows only from descriptions and illustrations but has not studied firsthand.” The team could not even confirm the date of the fossil. However, “we believe that this is such an exceptional case that the nomenclature act is justified,” they added, pointing to official exceptions within the recommendations.
Perhaps future excavations will one day find physical evidence T. margrave. For now, this can be another happy example old photographs lead scientists to a new discovery.
