Dinosaurs of Egypt (2026 Revised Edition)

The History of Egypt Podcast

Dominic Perry

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2026

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the Cretaceous Period (c.100 million years ago) Egypt and North Africa were radically different environments. With vast tidal flats and mangroves, and a shallow sea, the continent fostered numerous animal and plant species. Creatures like Paralititan (sauropods); the sprinting Deltadromeus; the infamous Spinosaurus; and the newcomer Tameryraptor. These have been preserved in the fossil record from Egypt and other countries in North Africa. Today, we meet some of the inhabitants of this ancient landscape… Logo image: Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, by Paleogeeksquared, via Wikimedia. Animals mentioned in this episode: Paralititan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralititan Deltadromeus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deltadromeus Mawsonia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawsonia_(fish) Leptostomia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptostomia Spinosaurus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosaurus Tameryraptor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tameryraptor Select references: Dal Sasso, C., Maganuco, S., & Iurino, D. (2014). Update on the internal structure of the snout of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. Second North African Vertebrate Palaeontology Congress, Ouarzazate. Darwish, M. H., & Attia, Y. (2007). Plant impressions from the mangrove-dinosaur Unit of the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt. Taeckholmia, 27, 105--125. Hone, D., & Holtz Jr, T. R. (2021). Evaluating the ecology of Spinosaurus: Shoreline generalist or aquatic pursuit specialist? Palaeontologia Electronica, 24(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.26879/1110 Hone, D., & Witton, M. P. (2025). Spinosaur Tales: The Biology and Ecology of the Spinosaurs. Ibrahim, N., Sereno, P. C., Dal Sasso, C., Maganuco, S., Fabbri, M., Martill, D. M., Zouhri, S., Myhrvold, N., & Iurino, D. A. (2014). Semiaquatic adaptations in a giant predatory dinosaur. Science, 345(6204), 1613--1616. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1258750 Roach, J. (2001, May 31). “Tidal Giant” Roamed Coastal Swamps of Ancient Africa. National Geographic News. https://web.archive.org/web/20010605022420/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/05/0531_tidaldinosaur.html Sereno, P. C., Myhrvold, N., Henderson, D. M., Fish, F. E., Vidal, D., Baumgart, S. L., Keillor, T. M., Formoso, K. K., & Conroy, L. L. (2022). Spinosaurus is not an aquatic dinosaur. eLife, 11, e80092. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.80092 Smith, J. B., Lamanna, M. C., Lacovara, K. J., Dodson, P., Smith, J. R., Poole, J. C., Giegengack, R., & Attia, Y. (2001). A Giant Sauropod Dinosaur from an Upper Cretaceous Mangrove Deposit in Egypt. Science, 292(5522), 1704--1706. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1060561 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is a revised version of one from 2019. I've rewritten the story and descriptions
0:06.7	based on new science and discoveries. I hope you enjoy. You are standing in shallow water
0:18.2	that reaches your ankles. Your boots sink slightly into a sandy mud mixture
0:23.3	that swirls dark and dirty around you nearby the twisted roots of a mangrove shrub dig deep into the
0:31.2	silt the air is hot and humid sunlight beats down overhead the shadows of small winged beasts flit past. Dragonflies
0:41.8	buzz through the air, alighting on branches and skimming the surface of the water. Shallow ripples
0:48.4	follow them, stirred up by tiny fish and serpents winding through the shallows. The land is vibrant and teeming
0:56.6	with life. If you didn't know better, you might think you were in the Nile Delta, that
1:02.0	vast green expanse that now dominates Egypt's north. But you're not in the Delta. You're not even
1:09.9	in the Nile. Technically, you are in the Sahara.
1:14.5	Our story today takes place 100 million years ago. We are here to meet the inhabitants of a land that would become Egypt.
1:24.1	This far back in time, the world is a radically different place.
1:28.4	For a start, the Nile River is nowhere to be seen.
1:32.1	The Sahara Desert is also missing.
1:35.2	Instead, there is a vast, shallow sea.
1:39.5	100 million years ago, much of North Africa was submerged beneath the waters of Tethys.
1:46.3	This was an ocean that covered land from Spain to Malaysia and everything in between.
1:51.9	As a result, the region that became Egypt, Libya, and much of the Middle East, was quite
1:57.5	different to the sandy wastes of today. Instead, this region was more coastal,
2:04.0	covered in tidal flats, mangroves, and shallow, fresh waterways. The climate was closer to
2:10.8	tropical with high humidity. Flora and fauna were abundant. Standing in the waters of this coastal environment, you are keenly aware
2:20.3	that you're not in your own time.
	...

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