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03-28-2021, 06:38 AM( This post was last modified: 03-29-2021, 06:02 AM by DinoFan83 )
Bahariasaurus (meaning "Bahariya lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur found in the Bahariya Formation in Egypt, and the Farak Formation of Niger of North Africa, which date to the late Cretaceous Period, (Cenomanian age), about 95 million years ago. With the proportions of the likely close relatives Proceratosauridae and Megaraptora, it would have been 13-15 meters long and roughly 8000-10500 kg, placing it one of the largest land carnivores ever. Those sizes suggest the animal was much heavier than Tyrannosaurus rex and in the same size range as the contemporary gigantic theropods Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus.
The type species, B. ingens, was described by Ernst Stromer in 1934, though Stromer's finds were destroyed during World War II. The exact placement of Bahariasaurus is uncertain with it having been variously assigned to several theropod groups, namely Ceratosauria, Megalosauroidea, Allosauroidea, and Tyrannosauroidea. Modern phylogenetic analyses favor the last option, recovering it both as a member of Megaraptora within the Tyrannosauroidea and as a non-megaraptoran basal tyrannosauroid.
However, it has been postulated that not all of Stromer's material belonged to one taxon (explaining the phylogenetic instability) and that Bahariasaurus may have been the same animal as Deltadromeus, another giant basal tyrannosauroid from the same time and place. More specimens would be needed to more accurately classify it, and to determine its relationship to Deltadromeus. Researcher Mickey Mortimer believes Bahariasaurus is diagnostic, although this remains tentative for the time being.
