1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:09,639 Speaker 1: lorn bog Obama here. The finding of a new dinosaur 3 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: species is always cause for celebration. To dino enthusiasts, memorizing 4 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: new names is a favorite pastime. Just ask some parents, 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: including nine Sorry about that phase, guys. And on an 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: academic level, recently discovered species can help us better understand 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: the story of dinosaurian evolution. Occasionally, they provide clues to 8 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: other mysteries as well. On januaryeen, the scientific journal Nature 9 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: published a study announcing that the remains of a previously 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: unknown dinosaur had been found in Egypt, long necked herbivore. 11 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 1: The beast has been dubbed Mansurasaurus Shahine. Size Wise, it 12 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: wasn't too impressive, but the discovery still has a lot 13 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 1: of scientists very excited. That's because, by virtue of its 14 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,240 Speaker 1: age and anatomy, Mansursaurus might settle a debate about where 15 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: the African continent was located on Earth when the non 16 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: avian dinosaurs died out. Alfred Wagner was a meteorologist who 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: in nine in fifteen made the case for a theory 18 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: he called continental drift. This is the idea that the 19 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: continents gradually move across Earth's surface as time goes by, 20 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: and he was right. We now know that, due to 21 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: plate tectonics, the continents are indeed moving along at a 22 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: steady pace, and a century is worth of research has 23 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: allowed geologists to piece together the travel histories of the 24 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: major land masses. For instance, scientists have figured out that 25 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: after having been separated for tens of millions of years, 26 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: South and North America were reconnected by the Central American 27 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: land Bridge around three point five million years ago. Still, 28 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: our knowledge does contain some gaps. Consider Africa. Roughly three 29 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: hundred million years ago, it was part of the super 30 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: continent Pangaea. This megaaland mass started to break apart about 31 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: a hundred million years later, but we don't know exactly 32 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: what Africa was doing during certain stages of this process. 33 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: The Cretaceous period lasted from a hundred and forty five 34 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: to sixty six million years ago. Famously, it ended with 35 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: a mass extinction that wiped out all dinosaurs excluding birds. 36 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: We've uncovered numerous African dinal fossils from the early Cretaceous period, 37 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: including bones that represent the weird fin backed carnivor Spinosaurus However, 38 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: late Cretaceous material from Africa is awfully scarce. One co 39 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: author of the Nature study is Ohio University paleontologist Patrick O'Connor. 40 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,079 Speaker 1: He said via email, the Late Cretaceous fossil record is 41 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: quite robust in some parts of the world, like South America, Madagascar, 42 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: and North America, But by comparison, the Late Cretaceous fossil record, 43 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 1: and particularly that of the end of the Late Cretaceous 44 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 1: period eight two sixty six million years ago from continental 45 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: Africa is a virtual blank slate. That's a problem for 46 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: people who studied continental drift. Fossil evidence is critical when 47 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: it comes to theorizing about when, where, and how the 48 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: continents emerged or separated. If you find similar looking fossil 49 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,239 Speaker 1: remains from the same geologic time on two separate continents, 50 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: there's a good chance that those land masses were linked 51 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: together at some point in the past. Historically, we haven't 52 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: been able to compare Africa's Late Cretaceous fossil record with 53 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: that of other continents. As O'Connor pointed out, they're simple. 54 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: Aren't many African fossils that date back to this time. 55 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: The information gap has sparked some debate. Without the Late 56 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: Cretaceous fossils to work with, paleontologists could only speculate about 57 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: whether Africa was still connected to South America or Eurasia 58 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: back then. Mansur Sourus offers a badly needed breakthrough. Its 59 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: remains were first spotted during a December expedition into western 60 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: Egypt Stahla Oasis. The campaign was spearheaded by Hashem Salem, 61 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: a paleontologist at Mansura University in Egypt's Nile Delta. We 62 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: spoke with study co author Eric Gorskak via email. He 63 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: said in early Feen the team came back and started 64 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: the excavation that would last the next three weeks. In total, 65 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: nineteen field jackets that's plaster coverings placed over and around fossils, 66 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: and many isolated bone fragments were collected. Named in honor 67 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: of Mansur University, Mansursaurus Shahine was a long necked dinosaur 68 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: or sapod. More specifically, it was a titanosaur, a group 69 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: of Cretaceous sauropods whose ranks included some of the biggest 70 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: animals to ever walk the Earth. One species, Argentinosaurus wink 71 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: A lensis, may have weighed over seventy seven tons or 72 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: seventy metric tons. Like many other titanosaurs, mens Oursaurus had 73 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: bony knobs embedded in its skin. However, unlike many of 74 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: its cousins, this creature was no true behemoth. A full 75 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: grown men's our Soaurus would have been around thirty three 76 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: feet that's ten meters long and weighed just five point 77 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: five tons or five metric tons. Because it was found 78 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: in late Cretaceous rock, mens our Soaurus is hugely important 79 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: knowing this salmonous. Team compared the animal's bones with those 80 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:34,559 Speaker 1: of contemporary titanosaurs from South America and Eurasia. It turns 81 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: out that anatomically speaking, men's our soaurs bore a closer 82 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: resemblance to the Eurasian titanosaurs. In O'Connor's words, the finding 83 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: points to some geographical connection between Africa and Eurasia for 84 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: at least some point of the Latest Cretaceous. While the 85 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,719 Speaker 1: existence of Man's our Soaurus does strongly indicate that large 86 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: animals like titanosaurs could travel from Eurasia to Africa back then, 87 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:59,559 Speaker 1: O'Connor says scientists need more fossils to confirm this hypothesis. Also, 88 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: right now, it's impossible to say whether there was a 89 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: direct land bridge between the two continents. High sea levels 90 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: at the time flooded parts of Europe and northern Africa, 91 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: turning the region into a system of islands. So maybe 92 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: instead of walking from one continent to the other, soropods 93 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: like men's our soaurus made the journey via island hopping. 94 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: The timing and extent of islands and land bridges is 95 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: currently unknown, but scientists are on the case. O'Connor says 96 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: that Salam and his students have great ambitions for studying 97 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: other fossils from Africa's Late Cretaceous deposits. Furthermore, O'Connor himself has, 98 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: as he said, ongoing projects with other colleagues exploring similar 99 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: aged rocks in Tanzania, Madagascar, and Antarctica. There are many 100 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: more exciting discoveries on the horizon, and we can't wait 101 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: to read about them. Today's episode was written by Mark 102 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,359 Speaker 1: Mancini and produced by Tyler Klang. For more on this 103 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: and lots of other dynamite topics, visit our home planet, 104 00:05:54,080 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot com.