German paleontologist Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach never published any maps or photo-
graphs of the sites in Egypts Bahariya Oasis where he collected bones from dinosaurs and other
prehistoric creatures in the early 1900s. So when Allied bombing during World War II destroyed
the German museum where Stromers collection was housed, paleontologists lost sight of
Bahariyas potential for fossil finds. Now the Bahariyas Oasis is once again on the map as the
site where University of Pennsylvania researchers have unearted the second most massive
dinosaur that ever lived.
� � � � �Named Paralitian stromeri in honor of the earlier explorer, the dinosaur was discovered by
Josh Smith, a ph.D. candidate in paleoecology at the University of Pennsylvania. Smith says a
full-grown Paralititan probably approached 100 feet in length and weighed 70 tons. This was
an enormous best by anybodys reckoning, he says. The only larger dinosaur known is
Argentionsaurus. Both dinosaurs are sauropods. Giant plant-eating animals with long necks and tails.
� � � � �Smith found the Egyptian dinosaur in what was once a coastal mangrove swamp. (Paralititan
means tidal giant.) The area is now part of the Sahara Desert. We know that it was anything
but a desert 94 million years ago,says Smith. It was a green tropical environment, comparable
to south Florida. The discovery is the first time a sauropod has been found in a mangrove forest.
The dinosaurs huge feet kept it from sinking into the swamp.