Dinosaurs A to Z
Avetheropoda

Bahariasaurus

"Bahariya lizard"

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Bahariasaurus 12 m (39 ft) long
as long as 7 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Bahariasaurus
Length
12 m (39 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (95 Mya)
Place
Africa · Germany · Egypt
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Avetheropoda

Bahariasaurus (meaning “Bahariya lizard”) is an enigmatic genus of large theropod dinosaur. The genus contains a single species, Bahariasaurus ingens, which was found in North African rock layers dating to the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous. The only fossils confidently assigned to Bahariasaurus were found in the Bahariya Formation of the Bahariya Oasis in Egypt by Ernst Stromer. This material was destroyed during a World War II bombing raid, with the same raid also destroying the holotypes of Spinosaurus, Aegyptosaurus, and other animals found in the Bahariya Formation.

Bahariasaurus is among the largest known theropods, estimated at 11 – 12 m long and around 4 t in weight. This approaches the size of other large theropods such as Tyrannosaurus rex and the contemporaneous Carcharodontosaurus. The exact phylogenetic placement of Bahariasaurus has been debated.

What we know

  • Named by Stromer, 1934.
  • Body length estimated at about 12 m.
  • Fossils found in Africa and Germany.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Bahariasaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.