Bahariasaurus

Bahariasaurus (meaning "Bahariya lizard") is a genus of large, theropod dinosaur found in the Bahariya Formation in El-Waha el-Bahariya or Bahariya (Arabic: الواحة البحرية meaning the "northern oasis") oasis in Egypt, the Farak Formation of Niger, and Kem Kem Beds of North Africa, which date to the late Cretaceous Period, (Cenomanian age), about 95 million years ago. It was a huge theropod, in the same size range as Tyrannosaurus and the contemporary genus Carcharodontosaurus.[1]

The type species, B. ingens, was described by Ernst Stromer in 1934,[2] though the type specimen was destroyed during World War II. The exact placement of Bahariasaurus is uncertain, although it has been variously assigned to several theropod groups, including Carcharodontosauridae (by Rauhut in 1995) and Tyrannosauroidea (by Chure in 2000). It is potentially synonymous with Deltadromeus, another theropod from the early Late Cretaceous of North Africa, this would possibly make it the largest ceratosaur.[3] More specimens would be needed to more accurately classify it, and to determine its relationship to Deltadromeus.[4][5]

In 2016 the description and analysis of Aoniraptor, Bahariasaurus was found along with Aoniraptor and Deltadromeus to probably form a still poorly known clade of megaraptoran tyrannosauroids different from the Megaraptoridae.[6]