About 30 million years ago parts of Egypt were covered with lush forests. Within those trees he lurked an order of frightening Big cat -sized carnivores called hyaenodonta. These Apex Predators flourished after the dinosaurs had gone extinct, but would eventually meet their own early end.
Now, a team of scientists who have discovered the desert in present -day Fayum, Egypt, a completely new type of hyaenodonta with extremely powerful jaw muscles. The new species –Bastetodon Syrtos–Thy described in a Study published on 17 February in the Journal of vertebrate paleontology.
Spot a skull
Hyaenodonts such as Bastetodone Evolved long before modern cats, dogs, hyenas and other carnivorous mammals. They stuffed sharp hyena-like teeth and stalked African ecosystems on the hunt for primates, early hippos, early elephants and beavery hyraxes in the forests southwest of modern Cairo. Now a desert, a team of paletteontologists, was digging the strokes of 30 million -year -old rotten, called the Fayum depression For more evidence about the evolution of mammals in Africa.
“The Fayum is one of the most important fossil areas in Africa,” Matt Borths, co-author and curator of fossils in the Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History at Duke University, said in a statement. “Without that we would know very little about the origin of African ecosystems and the evolution of African mammals such as elephants, primates and hyaenodonts.”
These historic rocks catch the transition of the Warm Eocene era to the Cooler Oligocene -TimensAnd also held on to an exciting discovery.
“Just when we were about to complete our work, a team member saw something remarkable one set out of the ground,” Sherouq al-ASKQAR, co-author and paleontologist of Mansoura University and American University in Cairo said in a statement. “His excited scream brought the team together and marked the start of an extraordinary discovery: an almost complete skull of an old Apex Carnivore, a dream for every vertebrate paleontologist.”
The Sharp teeth and powerful jaw muscles kept on the skull Imagine it had a very strong bite. The monster is named after the head head Ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet. Bastet symbolized protection, pleasure and good health.
Credit: Professor Hesham Sallam.
A new look at an old discovery
Moreover, the new species also allowed the team to re -evaluate a group of lion -sized hyaenodonts Discovered for the first time in Fayum more than 120 years ago. This copy belongs to a new genus called Sekhmetops in honor of Sekhmet. Sekhmet is the lion’s head of Toorn and war in ancient Egyptian mythology.
In 1904, Sekhmetops was initially placed in a European group of hyaenodonts. However, the new skull use indicates that the size of the leopard Bastetodone and lion Sekhmetops Both belonged to a group of hyaenodonts that actually originated in Africa. Moreover, the goddess Bastet was often associated with Sekhmet, so these two animals are both symbolic and scientifically connected in the same order.
According to the team” Bastetodone And Sekhmetops Later spread from Africa in various waves, which eventually reach Asia, Europe, India and even North America. Roughly 18 million years agoSome family members of these hyaenodonts were among the largest carnivorous mammals on earth.
[ Related: This tiny, 8-foot long whale swam off Egypt’s coast 41 million years ago. ]
The times they change
Cataclysmic changes in Climate and Tectonic changes in Africa during the Oligocene era Open the continent for the family members of modern cats, dogs and hyenas. As soon as the environments and prey began to change, the more specialized, carnivorous hyaenodonts decreased in diversity. Hyaenodonts eventually went extinct About 25 million years ago.
‘The discovery of Bastetodone is an important achievement in understanding the diversity and evolution of hyaenodonts and their global distribution, “said Al-As-Sashqar. “We would like to continue with our research to unravel the complicated relationships between these old predators and their environments over time and between continents.”
More Deals, Reviews and Purchase Guides
