Rare dinosaur discovery in Egypt could signal more finds

Rare dinosaur discovery in Egypt could signal more finds
In this Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018 photo, Hesham Sallam, head of Mansoura university's Center for Vertebrate Paleontology, displays bones of a Cretaceous period dinosaur in Mansoura, Egypt. Researchers from Mansoura university in the country’s Nile Delta discovered a new species of long-necked herbivore, in the western desert of Egypt, which is around the size of a city bus and could be just the tip of the iceberg of other finds. Experts say the discovery is a landmark one that could shed light on a particularly obscure period of history for the African continent. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

MANSOURA, Egypt (AP) — A skeleton has been unearthed in Egypt’s Western Desert, whose ancient sands have long helped preserve remains, but unlike most finds this one isn’t a mummy — it’s a dinosaur.

Researchers from Mansoura University in the country’s Nile Delta discovered the new species of long-necked herbivore, which is around the size of a city bus, and it could be just the tip of the sand dune for other desert dinosaur discoveries.

Hesham Sallam is leader of the excavation team and head of the university’s Center for Vertebrate Paleontology. Sallam along with four Egyptian and five American researchers authored an article in the magazine “Nature: ecology and evolution” published Jan. 29 announcing the discovery.