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Lost history of African dinosaurs revealed
A new species of dinosaur found in the Egyptian desert is shedding light on Africa's missing history of dinosaurs. Few fossils have been unearthed from the last days of the dinosaurs, between 100 and 66 million years ago, on the continent. Scientists say the dinosaur, which lived about 80 million years ago, is an "incredible discovery".
The giant plant-eater was the length of a school bus and weighed about the same as an elephant. [...] Named Mansourasaurus shahinae, the new species is regarded as a critical discovery for science.
[...] Dinosaur fossils in Africa are rare as much of the land is now covered in lush vegetation, rather than the exposed rock that has yielded dinosaur treasure troves elsewhere. There is a huge gap in the fossil record during the Late Cretaceous, when the continents were coming towards the end of huge geological changes.
Also at Ohio University (Phys.org) and USA Today.
New Egyptian sauropod reveals Late Cretaceous dinosaur dispersal between Europe and Africa (DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0455-5) (DX)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday January 30 2018, @09:53PM (3 children)
> Dinosaur fossils in Africa are rare as much of the land is now covered in lush vegetation
Except, you know, the Sahara. And the Kalahari and Namib Deserts. And a lot of Africa is savanna. Hardly qualifies as "lush" as vegetation goes.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Grishnakh on Tuesday January 30 2018, @10:19PM (1 child)
That does seem like a really weird thing for that article to say, however the full quote is:
Dinosaur fossils in Africa are rare as much of the land is now covered in lush vegetation, rather than the exposed rock that has yielded dinosaur treasure troves elsewhere.
The Sahara certainly isn't covered in lush vegetation, but they're correct that there's little to no exposed rock there. At least the photos I've seen don't show any, just a whole lot of sand. I don't know about those other deserts though.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 30 2018, @10:57PM
Maybe they were trying to suggest that there is no rock or strata under the veggies. Maybe.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 30 2018, @10:40PM
They were trying not to be racist.