Two new dinosaur species have been discovered by intrepid British scientists, in Morocco, in the Sahara (press release). The new species are a pterosaur flying dino and a plant eating sauropod. Let’s call it a Saharasaurus! I haven’t run this name by the researchers yet – led in part by Nizar Ibrahim from University College Dublin – but I’m sure they can’t fail to like it.

The Times describes in great detail the romp that the scientists made through the desert to bring home their bony bounty, consisting of a metre-long Saharasaurus leg bone and a pterosaur beak.

The leg bone caused the researchers no small amount of trouble in its retrieval from the rock. Then, once safe in the back of a Land Rover, it made the vehicle so heavy it nearly sank into a dune. And that wasn’t all, tales of flooded rivers, night time journeys and snowstorms make this quite the thing of adventure stories. Was that Indiana Jones I heard someone mention?

The dig is big in the UK press, even making it into the free paper Metro. By all accounts this is a remarkable tale, not least because of how rare the dinosaurs are in this region, and the fragility of the beak of the pterosaur. Apparently the beaks are very rarely found in one piece.

And these bones aren’t the only things found in the haul, An in depth description can be found here at Scientific blogging, describing the discovery of footprints, teeth, crocs and fish. Other reports (AOL news) call the area where the finds were made a “river of giants”. Though this area arid now, it would have been lush when these beasts tramped around.

So all in all, an incredible tale. But if you’re’ reading, dinosaur-naming experts, please, please name one of these new species the Saharasaurus.

Image: UCD