- Title: Fossil of previously unknown four-legged whale found in Egypt
- Date: 26th August 2021
- Summary: MANSOURA, EGYPT (AUGUST 26, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RESEARCHER WORKING AT FOSSILS CENTER AT MANSOURA UNIVERSITY VARIOUS OF FOSSILS OF NEWLY DISCOVERED WHALE ON TABLE VARIOUS OF RESEARCHERS EXAMINING SPECIMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROFESSOR OF PALAEONTOLOGY AT MANSOURA UNIVERSITY AND FOUNDER OF VERTEBRATE PALAEONTOLOGY CENTER, HESHAM SELLAM, SAYING: "The discovery is of a new species of an amphibious whale that could both swim and walk on land. We named it Phiomicetus anubis, after the Fayum Depression and the ancient Egyptian god Anubis for his deadly bite and strong jaw." FOSSILS ON TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROFESSOR OF PALAEONTOLOGY AT MANSOURA UNIVERSITY AND FOUNDER OF VERTEBRATE PALAEONTOLOGY CENTER, HESHAM SELLAM, SAYING: "The Phiomicetus was discovered after excavations in the desert of Fayum in 2008 but we did not begin studying the fossils until 2017 and started prioritising it for study and documentation. We have documented it in one of the world's largest biological journals - Proceedings of the Royal Society B - as a new species of amphibious whale." VARIOUS OF SELLAM AND RESEARCHER ABDULLAH GOHAR EXAMINING FOSSILS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESEARCHER AT MANSOURA UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR FOSSILS, ABDULLAH GOHAR, SAYING: "What we found was the skull as you can see it here and the lower jaw which still had some teeth, with other teeth scattered around it. We also found the right and left jaw, the fifth vertebra and the sixth thoracic vertebra, in addition to roots of the teeth as well as some bones from the ribcage." VARIOUS OF FOSSILS ON TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESEARCHER AT MANSOURA UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR FOSSILS, ABDULLAH GOHAR, SAYING: "This specimen was found in the deserts of Fayum from rock formations that are 43 million years old. The question here is: 'Can we in the future find skeletons of other whales?' This is part of an action plan that we are working on here at the Salam lab, that in the future we can find more fossils of this whale or of other whales and be able to form a complete picture to understand the evolution of whales, which are considered one of the creatures that developed the most in its evolution because it evolved from living on land to living in the sea." RESEARCHER SHOWING WHALES' PLACE ON EVOLUTION CHART
- Embargoed: 9th September 2021 18:38
- Keywords: Amphibious Whale Discovery Egypt Fossils Species Whale
- Location: MANSOURA, EGYPT
- City: MANSOURA, EGYPT
- Country: Egypt
- Topics: Middle East,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA001ERX38SN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Scientists said on Thursday (August 26) they had discovered a 43 million-year-old fossil of a previously unknown amphibious four-legged whale species in Egypt that helps trace the transition of whales from land to sea.
The newly discovered whale belongs to the Protocetidae, a group of extinct whales that falls in the middle of that transition, the Egyptian-led team of researchers said.
It could both swim and walk on land, said Professor of Palaeontology at Mansoura University Hesham Sellam.
The fossil was unearthed from middle Eocene rocks in the Fayum Depression in Egypt's Western Desert -- an area once covered by sea that has provided a rich seam of discoveries showing the evolution of whales - before being studied at Mansoura University Vertebrate Palaeontology Centre (MUVP).
The new whale, named Phiomicetus anubis, had an estimated body length of some three meters (10 feet) and a body mass of about 600 kg (1,300 lb), and was likely a top predator, according to the researchers.
Its partial skeleton revealed it as the most primitive protocetid whale known from Africa.
Researchers found its skull, lower jaw with teeth, two vertebras and parts of the ribcage, said Abdullah Gohar of MUVP and the lead author of a paper on the discovery published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The whale's genus name honours the Fayum Depression and the species name refers to Anubis, the ancient canine-headed Egyptian god associated with mummification and the afterlife.
Despite recent fossil discoveries, the big picture of early whale evolution in Africa has largely remained a mystery, the researchers said.
But with future discoveries of more fossils, the scientists would be able to form a complete picture, Gohar told Reuters.
(Production: Ahmed Fahmy, Seham Eloraby, Karolina Bohacova) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None