It was discovered in the Bahari oasis of Egypt. The sediments of the Bahariya Formation of the same name come to the surface here. Their age goes back to the Cretaceous period (100.5-93.9 million years ago).

German paleontologist Ernst Stromer discovered fossils of giant carnivorous dinosaurs in these sediments in the early twentieth century:

• Spinosaurus (Spinosaurus aegyptiacus),
• carcharodontosaurus (Carcharodontosaurus saharicus),
• and Bahariasaurus.

Unfortunately, they were all destroyed during the bombing of Munich in 1944. But later, fossils of spinosaurus and carcharodontosaurus were found, particularly in sediments of the Kem-Kem group in Morocco, and the deltadromium (Deltadromeus agilis) found there may be synonymous with Bachariasaurus.

Bahari Oasis / Photo Royal Society Open Science

Research in Bahari oasis

Paleontological studies in the Bahariya oasis resumed only at the beginning of the XXI century. For example, in 2001 scientists published the description of a sauropod named Paralititan stromeri.

Belal Salem of Ohio University and colleagues in Egypt and the United States described the neck vertebra of a predatory dinosaur they found in the sediments of the Bahariya Formation in 2016. Scientists have attributed it to the family Abelisauridae (Abelisauridae), whose members have a short skull and small forelimbs – even smaller than tyrannosaurus. However, this vertebra was not sufficient to define the new taxon.

Cervical vertebra discovered in Bahariya oasis / Photo Ohio University

Researchers note that abelisaurids were found for the first time in Bahariya – and this is the second definitive find of this family in all of Egypt (the first – a tooth isolated from upper cream deposits). Paleontologists estimate the Abelizaurid to be around six meters long.

Illustration of a dinosaur from the family Abelizaurida / Illustration

Thus, this dinosaur adds to the list of large theropods of Baharia, although much smaller than giants such as Spinosaurus or Carcharodontosaurus. Scientists believe that Abelizaurids were previously found in sediments of the Moroccan Kem-Kem group, so their findings further reinforce the similarities between the Baharia and Kem-Kem paleofauna.