A photo of bones destroyed during World War II led to the discovery of a new species of predatory dinosaurs.

A staff member at the Paleontological Museum in Munich, while exploring the archives, stumbled upon an previously unknown photograph of an incomplete dinosaur skeleton discovered in Egypt in 1914. The bones were destroyed during a bombing 30 years later, but prior to their destruction, they had been documented and classified as belonging to a species of giant predatory reptiles. However, the newly found photograph captured a unique crest on the dinosaur's nose and other features, which have led researchers to identify a new genus.

2025-01-22 10:00:41https://naked-science.ru/article/paleontology/fotografiya-novogo-dinoza

Paleontology can be categorized into two types based on the work environment: fieldwork and laboratory work. The former involves geological surveys, excavations, expeditions, and generally everything that adds an element of adventure to discoveries. However, the materials collected must be carefully processed, photographed, and studied in detail—all of which takes place behind the doors of scientific institutions and museums.

At first glance, this might seem much less exciting than outdoor work. However, a recent study by German paleontologists, published in the journal PLOS One, indicates that new dinosaurs can be discovered by examining archives from the last century. Maximilian Kellermann from the Paleontological Museum in Munich, Germany, found a previously unknown photograph of dinosaur bones that were destroyed during the bombing of the city in 1944. The scientists analyzed the structure of the fossils, compared the results with known predatory dinosaurs, and ultimately identified a new genus and species of these reptiles.

An incomplete skeleton of the lizard was discovered in Egypt in 1914. From the Senomanian layer of the Late Cretaceous period (100.5±0.1-93.9±0.2 million years ago), parts of the skull were extracted, including fragments of the upper jaw and braincase, several vertebrae, rib fragments, both femurs, and one fibula. The material has since been destroyed, but until 1944, researcher Ernst Stromer classified the find as belonging to the genus (Carcharodontosaurus). Some of these massive Cretaceous predators, which could reach lengths of up to 16 meters and weigh 11 tons, were larger than Tyrannosaurus rex.

From the discovered photograph, paleontologists noted several distinctive features of the Egyptian lizard. Primarily, it is characterized by a crest and a horn on the snout, although other features of the thigh and shin bones, as well as the skull, such as symmetrical teeth, are quite unique. This trait had not been observed in any other theropods (bipedal predators) before. Interestingly, the crest may indicate sexual dimorphism in the dinosaur, which has also not been observed in such reptiles.

The new taxon was named Tameryraptor markgrafi. The genus name derives from one of the informal names of Ancient Egypt (Ta-Meri), while the species name honors the Austrian collector Richard Markgraf, who discovered numerous dinosaur fossils, including those of carcharodontosaurs.

This discovery, as noted by paleontologists, challenges the apparent uniformity of theropod fauna in North Africa during the mid-Cretaceous period. Tameryraptor competed with lizards such as Spinosaurus and Bahariasaurus—these predators could weigh up to eight tons. The newly found genus was comparable in size, reaching nearly 10 meters in length.