A new record of saltasaurids in Africa; new evidence from the Middle Campanian, Western Desert, Egypt

ABSTRACT

The Late Cretaceous deposits in the south of the Western Desert in the Dakhla Basin are well exposed, comprising variegated shales which contain a variety of vertebrates. In this contribution, we describe a new sauropod specimen from the Quseir Formation, represented by an almost complete humerus. The humerus shows a set of morphological features that allow us to refer it to the Saltasauridae, such as divided and well-developed distal condyles. Saltasaurids are ones of the smallest sauropod dinosaurs. The saltasaurids are newly recorded in Africa, although it was previously discovered on almost all the other continents in the Late Cretaceous. This study mentions the first record of saltasaurid humerus in Africa.

KEYWORDS:

• Saltasaurids
• humerus
• Late Cretaceous
• Dakhla Basin, Egypt

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Vertebrate Palaeontology Centre at New Valley University and its team for the services and allowing them to study the specimen. The authors also extend special thanks to Madam Heba Farahat, a restoration specialist at the Vertebrate Palaeontology Centre for teaching the restoration of fossils. Also, many thanks and appreciation to Mr. Mohamed Kamel for field and laboratory cooperation. Special thanks for New Valley and Cairo Universities for their support. Martin Pickford edited the English. The quality of the manuscript was significantly enhanced thanks to comments by the Editor Dr Gareth Dyke and the reviewer, Jens N. Lallensack and another anonymous reviewer.

Disclosure statement

There are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report.