100 Million Years of Egypt's History... 'Spinosaurus' Halts President Sisi

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was presented, yesterday, during the opening of the Egypt Mining Forum, with one of the rarest exceptional specimens in paleontological history. The Egyptian Presidency posted a photo of a display case containing an accurate model of the skull of the “Spinosaurus aegyptiacus,” which dates back to approximately 100 million years ago. The General Authority for Information Affairs stated that the item was not merely a display piece, but a message summarizing Egypt’s geological history, which spans more than 100 million years. According to the authority, the roots of the discovery of this dinosaur date back to 1912, when German paleontologist Ernst Stromer succeeded in finding the first skeletal remains of the creature in the Bahariya Oasis depression in the Western Desert. It explained that, due to its distinctive prominent bony sail on its back and its discovery on Egyptian soil, its name was officially recorded in global scientific records as the “Egyptian Spinosaurus.” It added that although the original bones found in Egypt were previously transferred to a museum in Munich, Germany, and were completely destroyed during aerial bombardment in World War II, modern scientific efforts and research, in collaboration with Egyptian scientists and international researchers, have succeeded in accurately reconstructing and modeling the skull and skeleton based on new discoveries of similar teeth and skeletal parts. This dinosaur, which lived in Egypt during the Cretaceous period approximately 100 million years ago, is considered the largest carnivorous predator known to Earth, surpassing even the famous Tyrannosaurus rex in size and length. It is characterized by a set of conical teeth and a long jaw resembling that of a crocodile, making it an amphibious creature that primarily fed on fish and large aquatic animals.