Tameryraptor markgrafi: A New Dinosaur Species Resurrected from the Ashes of War
Paleontology has known many instances of valuable finds being lost. However, thanks to preserved archival materials, scientists manage to reconstruct lost knowledge. A recent example is the identification of a new genus and species of theropod dinosaur, whose remains were destroyed during World War II. Thanks to photographs taken before the tragic events, scientists were able not only to confirm the uniqueness of the find but also to provide its scientific description.
Discovery and Loss
In 1914, in the Bahariya Oasis in Egypt, German paleontologist Richard Markgraf discovered fossilized remains of a large carnivorous dinosaur. The find was transported to the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology (BSPG) in Munich, where it was studied by the renowned paleontologist Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach. Stromer tentatively assigned the remains to the genus *Carcharodontosaurus*, a group of large theropods that inhabited North Africa during the Cretaceous period.
Tragically, during the bombing of Munich in 1944, the BSPG building, where the fossils were stored, was destroyed, and the invaluable specimens were irretrievably lost. For decades, it was believed that the scientific world had forever lost the opportunity to study this unique find.
Resurrection from the Archives
Recently, researchers discovered previously unknown photographs of these fossils in the archive of paleontologist Friedrich von Huene, housed at the University of Tübingen in Germany. These pre-war photographs became the only surviving evidence of the dinosaur’s existence.
Distinctive Features
Detailed analysis of the photographs allowed scientists to determine that the remains did not belong to *Carcharodontosaurus*, but represented a new genus and species. The dinosaur was named *Tameryraptor markgrafi*. “Tamery” (Ta-mery) is the ancient Egyptian name for Egypt, meaning “beloved land,” and “raptor” is Latin for “thief” or “predator.” The specific name *markgrafi* honors the original discoverer, Richard Mark