Open Paleo

Igai

Gorscak et al., 2022 ee-jee

Named for Igai, a mysterious 'lord of the oasis' worshipped around the Dakhla and Kharga Oases of Egypt during the Old Kingdom.

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Igai is a genus of titanosaur from the Late Cretaceous Quseir Formation of Kharga Oasis, Egypt. The type species is Igai semkhu.

Diagnosis

  1. Metacarpal V with proximomedial and distomedial tubercles
  2. Reduced cnemial crest of tibia does not exceed anterior margin of distal end
  3. Distal groove along dorsal margins of metatarsals I and II

Species

Igai semkhu Gorscak et al., 2022

Type species

From Ancient Egyptian 'semekh' meaning 'to forget', referring both to the specimen's convoluted history and the relatively recent start of Late Cretaceous non-marine vertebrate paleontology in continental Africa.

Holotype
Vb-621, Vb-622, Vb-623, Vb-624, Vb-625, Vb-626, Vb-627, Vb-628, Vb-629, Vb-630, Vb-631, Vb-632, Vb-633, Vb-634, Vb-635, Vb-636, Vb-637, Vb-638, Vb-639, Vb-640 , Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
Material
Five fragmentary dorsal vertebrae, partial left coracoid, partial left ulna, three left metacarpals (I, IV, V), proximal part of left pubis, both tibiae, left fibula, three metatarsals (left I, left and right II).
Notes
The Vb numbers are those of the Sonderforschungsbereich 69 vertebrate collection of the Technische Universität Berlin, which recovered the skeleton in 1977. The material passed to the Freie Universität Berlin around 1999 and to the Museum für Naturkunde in 2008, but was never re-accessioned into that museum's MB.R. series, so Gorscak and colleagues (2022) retain the original collection numbers. The left tibia, Vb-634, was not among the material transferred and its whereabouts are unknown.
Horizon
Quseir Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
East of Maks El-Bahari, Kharga Oasis, New Valley, Egypt

References

  1. Gorscak, E.; Lamanna, M. C.; Schwarz, D.; Díez Díaz, V.; Salem, B. S.; Sallam, H. M.; Wiechmann, M. F. (2022). A new titanosaurian (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Quseir Formation of the Kharga Oasis, Egypt. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 42(6). Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2199810 gorscak2022a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b