Fossils of Egypt
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Egypt has many fossil-bearing geologic formations, in which many dinosaurs have been discovered.
Scientists
[edit]- 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
[edit]Petrified Wood
[edit]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
[edit]- 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.
- Tomistoma, a crocodile type animal.
Birds
[edit]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
[edit]- 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
- Elephants (mastodons) in Fayoum
- Moeritherium in Fayoum, and in Wadi El Natrun
- Palaeomastodon
- Phioma
- Apterodon
- Pterodon
- Hyaenodon
- Sirenia (Sea Cow)
Primates
[edit]The Fayoum primates
- The Lower sequence primates
- The upper sequence primates
- Parapithecus fraasi
- Parapithecus grangeri
- Aegyptopithecus zeuxis
- Propliopithecus, (P. chirobates, P. ankeli, P. haeckeli and P. markgrafi)
Dinosaurs
[edit]- Aegyptosaurus
- Bahariasaurus
- Carcharodontosaurus
- Deltadromeus
- ’’Igai’’
- ‘’Inosaurus’’
- Mansourasaurus
- Paralititan
- Spinosaurus
Fossil sites
[edit]- 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
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fossils of Egypt.
