Fossils of Egypt

Egypt has many fossil-bearing geologic formations, in which many dinosaurs have been discovered.

Scientists

• Ernst Stromer
• Richard Markgraf, early 1900s, (he died in Sinnuris of Giza in 1916)
• A. B. Orlebar, Fayoum 1845
• George Schweinfurth, Geziret al-Qarn in Lake Qarun 1879 & Qasr al-Sagha Formation ancient whale fossils named Zeuglodom osiris.
• Hugh Beadnell, Fayoum 1898
• Charles Andrews, 1901, they unearthed a wealth of fossils Palaeomastodon, the oldest known elephant
• Eberhard Frass, Fayoum 1905
• Walter Granger & Henry F. Osborn, Fayoum 1907
• Wendell Phillips, 1947
• Elwyn L. Simons, Fayoum 1961–1986
• Thomas M. Bown and David Tab Rasmussen, 1980s

Fossils

Petrified Wood

Fayoum, Petrified wood protectorate in New-Cairo Area/ Cairo-Suez desert road & entire Western Desert of Egypt is covered in Petrified wood.

This is one of the clues that the region was a tropical climate. The petrified wood is very diverse and many samples are very beautiful, often actually littering the ground in certain areas.

Reptiles

• Turtle fossils in Fayoum
  • Testudo ammon, a large land tortoise
  • Podocnemis blanckenhorni river turtle
  • Stereogenys pelomedusa tropical land turtles
• Gigantic snake fossils found in the Qasr al-Sagha Formation.
  • Gigantophis
  • Pterosphernus
• Tomistoma, a crocodile type animal.

Birds

The area of Uganda bordering Lake Victoria and the upper Nile River area is not unlike the climate of the Fayoum long ago, where many bird fossils have been discovered.

• ospreys (Pandionidae)
• Gigantic shoebilled stork (Balaenicipitidae)
• jacanas, sometimes called lily-trotters (Jacanidae)
• herons, egrets, rails (Rallidae)
• cranes (Gruidae)
• flamingos (Phoenicopteridae)
• storks (Ciconiidae)
• cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae)
• An ancient eagle named Accipitridae

Mammals

• large Hyrax (Megalohyrax oecaenus)
• Elephants
• mastodons
• Fayoum's whale or Zeuglodon or more precisely the Basilosaurus in Fayoum's Wadi Zeuglodon (or wadi al-Hitan, Whale Valley)
• Another whale in Wadi Zeuglodon is the Dorudon
• Primitive whale from Fayum Depression Phiomicetus
• Arsinoitherium, a rhinoceros like animal with two horns
  • Arsinoitherium zitteli
  • Arsinoitherium andrewsi
• Elephants (mastodons) in Fayoum
  • Moeritherium in Fayoum, and in Wadi El Natrun
  • Palaeomastodon
  • Phioma
• Apterodon
• Pterodon
• Hyaenodon
• Sirenia (Sea Cow)

Primates

The Fayoum primates

• The Lower sequence primates
  • Oligopithecus savagei
  • Qatrania wingi
• The upper sequence primates
  • Catopithecus browni
  • Proteopitheus sylvia
  • Oligopithecus
  • Apidium moustafai
  • Apidium phiomense
• Parapithecus fraasi
• Parapithecus grangeri
• Aegyptopithecus zeuxis
• Propliopithecus, (P. chirobates, P. ankeli, P. haeckeli and P. markgrafi)

Dinosaurs

• Aegyptosaurus
• Bahariasaurus
• Carcharodontosaurus
• Deltadromeus
• ’’Igai’’
• ‘’Inosaurus’’
• Mansourasaurus
• Paralititan
• Spinosaurus

Fossil sites

• Wadi Al-Hitan
• Bahariya Formation
• Jebel Qatrani Formation
• Nubian Sandstone
• Qasr el Sagha Formation
• Upper Cretaceous Phosphates
• Variegated Shale
• Madwar al-Bighal
• Moghra Oasis

See also

• List of African dinosaurs

External links

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