Paralititan

Paralititan stromeri was a giant titanosaurid sauropod dinosaur exposed in coastal deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya configuration of Egypt. The fossil represents the first tetrapod reported from the Bahariya Formation since 1935. Its 1.69 m long humerus is longer than that of any recognized Cretaceous sauropod. The autochthonous, scavenged skeleton was potted in tidal flat deposits containing fossil magrove vegetation. The mangrove ecosystem it inhabited was located along the southern shore of the Tethys Sea. Paralititan is the first dinosaur established to have inhabited a mangrove biome.

Paralititan Dinosaur

Paralititan is one of the hugest dinosaurs ever discovered, with an estimated weight of 38 tons. Like other titanosaurs, it had a wide-gauge posture and may have possessed osteoderms for defense.

Etymology

Paralititan stromeri means "Ernest Stromer's tidal titan". It was named by Joshua B. Smith, Matthew C. Lamanna, Kenneth J. Lacovara, Peter Dodson, Jennifer B. Smith, Jason C. Poole, Robert Giegengack and Usery Attia in 2001 to honor Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach, a German paleontologist and geologist who establish dinosaurs in this area in the early 1900's.