HOME | DD

Description
One of the many non descript animals from the Alcântara formation of Northern Brazil, a remarkable ecosystem that looked far more north african than it did look south american. Amongst other forms encountered there are fragmentary remains that very likely belong to well known north african fauna such as the sauropod Rebbachisaurus, the giant theropod Carcharodontosaurus and the Spinosaurid Sigilmassaurus.

Bahariasaurs were amongst the least known of all ceratosaurs, the only remains known of the original Bahariasaurus fossils from the Bahariya oasis of North Africa were lost by the end of World War II, however, closely related (and probably synonymous) genera such as Deltadromeus were discovered later on associated areas and they shed a light about how these creature may possibly have looked. From the few that we know about the old Bahariya specimen and from what we have of Deltadromeus we can infer these creatures had a bizarre collection of traits seen also in the much smaller Noasaurids, placing them very close to them on the ceratosaurian family tree. However, these creatures were marginally more robust , with a pronounced coracoid bone that likely attached very strong pectoral muscles associated with the animal's massive arms, which were probably its main weapon when dealing with large prey. The long legs on Deltadromeus seem to suggest that these creatures were also remarkably good runners and were probably chasing fast running prey such as iguanodontians and other ornithopods.

Since we have very few to go on on Bahariasaurus (and even less on our south american relative), this reconstruction was mainly a composite reconstruction using elements from closely related taxa such as Deltadromeus and Noasaurs such as Masiakasaurus (you can see that the whole animal itself has a very noasaurian look to it, this is intentional.) revealing a creature that's both robust yet remarkably lightweight. I don't know if my interpretation of the creature is the correct one but for now, its as good as any.

More on Alcântara's paleo fauna:
www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S…

Description
One of the many non descript animals from the Alcântara formation of Northern Brazil, a remarkable ecosystem that looked far more north african than it did look south american. Amongst other forms encountered there are fragmentary remains that very likely belong to well known north african fauna such as the sauropod Rebbachisaurus, the giant theropod Carcharodontosaurus and the Spinosaurid Sigilmassaurus.

Bahariasaurs were amongst the least known of all ceratosaurs, the only remains known of the original Bahariasaurus fossils from the Bahariya oasis of North Africa were lost by the end of World War II, however, closely related (and probably synonymous) genera such as Deltadromeus were discovered later on associated areas and they shed a light about how these creature may possibly have looked. From the few that we know about the old Bahariya specimen and from what we have of Deltadromeus we can infer these creatures had a bizarre collection of traits seen also in the much smaller Noasaurids, placing them very close to them on the ceratosaurian family tree. However, these creatures were marginally more robust , with a pronounced coracoid bone that likely attached very strong pectoral muscles associated with the animal's massive arms, which were probably its main weapon when dealing with large prey. The long legs on Deltadromeus seem to suggest that these creatures were also remarkably good runners and were probably chasing fast running prey such as iguanodontians and other ornithopods.

Since we have very few to go on on Bahariasaurus (and even less on our south american relative), this reconstruction was mainly a composite reconstruction using elements from closely related taxa such as Deltadromeus and Noasaurs such as Masiakasaurus (you can see that the whole animal itself has a very noasaurian look to it, this is intentional.) revealing a creature that's both robust yet remarkably lightweight. I don't know if my interpretation of the creature is the correct one but for now, its as good as any.

More on Alcântara's paleo fauna:
www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S…