The discovery was made by a team from the university's Mansoura Vertebrate Palaeontology Centre (Sallam Lab), led by palaeontologist Hisham Sallam, in collaboration with Egypt's Ministry of Environment, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the United States.
The fossil, a rare wing bone recovered from the Bahariya Formation in Egypt's Western Desert, provides the first definitive record of pterosaurs in the country and offers new insights into the prehistoric ecosystem that once covered northern Egypt.
An illustrative image made by AI.
Researchers said anatomical analysis confirmed the fossil belonged to a medium-sized pterosaur with an estimated wingspan of about four metres. The flying reptile is believed to have glided above rivers, floodplains, and coastal environments that existed in the region during the Cretaceous.
Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight and lived alongside dinosaurs for more than 150 million years before becoming extinct in the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period.
Mansoura University President Sherif Khater described the find as a major scientific milestone that strengthens the university's international research profile and highlights Egypt's rich fossil heritage.
Lead author Bilal Salem, a doctoral researcher at Ohio University, said the fossil was discovered during his first field expedition in 2018, calling it both scientifically and personally significant.
"The Bahariya Oasis was already famous for the giant predators that dominated its land and waterways," he said. "Now, for the first time, we have clear evidence of the creatures that ruled its skies."
The Bahariya Oasis is one of Africa's most important fossil sites, having yielded numerous dinosaur, crocodile, and fish fossils.
According to co-author Matthew Lamanna of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the discovery helps fill a major gap in the region's fossil record, much of which was lost during the Second World War.
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