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Egypt Independent
“A team of Egyptian palaeontologists have named a new species of amphibious whale. The fossil was discovered by an Egyptian expedition”, Professor of Palaeontology at Mansoura University, Hesham Sallam, announced on Wednesday.
Professor Sallam explained, “palaeontologists discovered the fossils in 2008, during an expedition in the Fayoum Depression, South Western Cairo. The area is famous for sea life fossils dating back to the Eocene Epoch about 56 to 33.9 million years ago”.
After four years of researching and comparing whale species, Sallam and his fellow researchers discovered that the fossil is of a completely new specie.
The specie was named Phiomicetus anubis, after Anubis, an Egyptian god of death. Sallam’s team believe the ancient specie is likely the oldest whale in Africa.
The research team findings indicate that the whale was likely a giant predator of the sea, measured at 3 metres long and weighs around 600 kilograms. “The whale had jaws capable of eating crocodile and small mammals”, the team revealed.
Fayoum is about 80 kilometres away from Wadi El-Hitan (the Valley of the Whales), a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is home to hundreds of fossils featuring the evolution of whales from land to ocean-based mammals.
