Scientists Name Ancient Crocodile Species Found in Rock that Built the Great Sphinx
CT and 3-D X-ray scans showed the fossil was a distinct long-snouted crocodile, adding a new branch to gavial evolution.
- On Wednesday, October 7, researchers identified a new ancient crocodile species, Herugavialis cairensis, discovered in Egypt's Mokattam Formation—the same limestone source used to build the Great Sphinx.
- University College London paleontologist Paul Burke used CT-scanning to reclassify the 1920s fossil, which paleontologists had initially misidentified as Tomistoma after its discovery.
- Researchers named the genus Herugavialis after the Egyptian god Heru, noting a striking coincidence: both the fossil snout and the Sphinx are missing their tips.
- This reclassification expands the known diversity of long-snouted crocodilians across the Mediterranean during the Eocene, providing insight into ancient predator ecosystems from 56 million to 34 million years ago.
- Co-Lead author Philip Mannion noted the discovery highlights the value of re-evaluating museum collections, as researchers believe additional ancient species remain hidden within existing fossil archives.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Scientists name ancient crocodile species found in rock that built the Great Sphinx
By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — The croc family tree may be getting a new branch. Analyzing fossilized remains discovered in the same bedrock that built the Great Sphinx, paleontologists newly identified a crocodilian species that once roamed a shallow sea in what’s now Egypt about 45 million years ago.The Mokattam Formation in northern Egypt
New crocodile species found fossilized in stone used to build Egypt’s Great Sphinx
About 45 million years ago in northern Egypt, a long-snouted crocodile hunted in the warm, shallow sea. Its bones settled into the same limestone formation that ancient Egyptians would later carry and carve into the Great Sphinx. Now, a century after researchers first dug up the fossils, they say the animal is a species new […]
Writing Science, 7 Oct (EFE).- An international team of researchers has discovered a new species of crocodile, already extinct, whose remains appeared among the rocks used to build the Egyptian Great Sphinx of Giza, the emblematic limestone macrosculpture with lion's body and human head. The most curious thing is that to the new [...] La entrada Discover a new species of crocodile among the rocks of the Great Sphinx of Egypt was first published …
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