Two new dinosaurs found in ancient Saharan river system

Dinosaur hunters have discovered two new species while searching an ancient river in the Sahara desert।

By Sarah Knapton
Last Updated: 12:47AM GMT 17 Dec २००८

The beak of a giant flying reptile and the leg of a giant long-necked plant eating dinosaur were found in Morocco.

The British and Irish scientists also discovered rare dinosaur footprints and other fossils including the remains of 18m long crocodiles and predatory fish.

At the time the creatures lived, the Sahara was covered in lush vegetation, waterways and lakes.

The excavation site was near the Algerian border in south-east Morocco, where during the Cretaceous period, a river ran that was as wide as the Danube.

Dr David Martill, from the University of Portsmouth, said: "This river system was stuffed full of gigantic fishes, each two to four metres long. Everything there was of a huge size. You could call it the ancient river of the giants."

One of the highlights of the expedition was finding the 40cm-long beak tip, which belonged to a previously unknown pterosaur - a flying reptile that lived alongside the dinosaurs.

The scientists believe the creature had a wing span of five to six metres and was related to the north American species Quetzalcoatlus, whose wings spanned more than 15 metres.

A one-metre-long dinosaur bone, from a giant sauropod which had a long neck and tail and stood on four legs was also uncovered. Estimated between 20m and 30m long it could be the biggest long-necked dinosaur ever discovered.

Dr Martill said: "We think this one might be linked with brachiosaurus, but it is different. The bone we found has some unusual features - it's unusually robust for a humerus. We're 95% confident that it is a humerus but if its part of a femur it would mean this creature was unimaginably enormous."

Expedition leader Nizar Ibrahim, from University College Dublin, said: "It's amazing to think that millions of years ago the Sahara was in fact a lush green tropical paradise, home to giant dinosaurs and crocodiles and nothing like the dusty desert we see today."