Fossil of school bus-sized dinosaur dug up in Egypt

WASHINGTON - Scientists have unearthed in a Sahara Desert oasis in Egypt fossils of a long-necked, four-legged, school bus-sized dinosaur that lived roughly 80 million years ago, a discovery that sheds light on a mysterious period in the history of dinosaurs in Africa.

Researchers said on Monday the plant-eating Cretaceous Period dinosaur, named Mansourasaurus shahinae, was nearly 10 meters long and weighed 5,000 kilograms and was a member of a group called titanosaurs that included Earth's largest-ever land animals.

Like many titanosaurs, Mansourasaurus boasted bony plates called osteoderms embedded in its skin.