The Discovery
Paleontologists have identified a new extinct species of ancient crocodilian using fossils recovered from northern Egypt's Mokattam Formation. This limestone deposit, which supplied the stone ancient Egyptians used to build iconic structures like the Great Sphinx and the pyramids at Giza, preserved marine organisms from a shallow sea that covered the region about 45 million years ago. The central specimen of the study, a skull originally unearthed in the 1920s, lacks the front of its snout. Because this missing piece resembles the Great Sphinx's lost nose, researchers named the newly established genus Herugavialis after Heru, or Horus, an Egyptian god linked to the construction of the mythical Sphinx.
What Scientists Found
The analyzed specimens, consisting of the main skull and five other fossil remains, were first classified in 1927 as a previously known species. Recent work utilizing computed tomography (CT) scans to look inside the skull, alongside updated evolutionary analyses, proved that the fossils represented an entirely distinct group. Features of Herugavialis cairensis include:
- A long, thin snout equipped with razor-sharp, pointed teeth suited for capturing fish.
- Telescopic, elevated eye sockets that made the creature's eyes stick out from its skull.
- A diet that likely relied on the prehistoric bony and cartilaginous fish found preserved in the same rock layer.
Why It Matters
Reclassifying this species broadens the understanding of gharials, a long-snouted crocodilian group with a complex evolutionary history. Although only two living gharial species exist today in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, their extinct ancient relatives had a global reach, with fossils discovered in locations including the United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden, Japan, and Egypt. The identification of Herugavialis highlights the value of re-examining older museum specimens and offers fresh insight into the diverse predators that navigated ancient Mediterranean marine ecosystems.
Source: prehistoric animals new study - BingNews · Published October 11, 2026 · Photo by David Clode on Unsplash