Fossil Crocodile Identified from Rocks Used to Build Great Sphinx

Paleontologists have identified a new species of extinct crocodilian, Herugavialis cairensis, from fossils preserved in the same limestone formation used to build the Great Sphinx in Egypt. Science News, Phys.org, and Mongabay all reported that the fossilized bones were recovered from 45-million-year-old stone, approximately a century after the specimens were originally excavated. Science News and Phys.org both noted that, similar to the iconic Sphinx monument, the fossil specimen is missing the tip of its snout. [1][2][3][5]

According to Science News and Mongabay, the ancient reptile lived around 45 million years ago during the Eocene epoch, hunting fish in the warm, shallow coastal waters of the Tethys Ocean in northern Egypt. Science News identified the animal as a unique branch of the gharial family tree, a group of long-snouted, fish-eating crocodilians. Mongabay confirmed that the creature was characterized by its elongated snout designed for capturing aquatic prey. [1][3]

The fossils were retrieved from the Mokattam Formation, an Eocene-aged limestone bedrock located on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile. Ancient Egyptian workers carved and extracted limestone from this same geological layer to construct the Great Sphinx of Giza, the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt 8. [1][2][3][8]

Re-examination of the long-stored specimens allowed researchers to officially reclassify the fossil as a distinct genus and species, providing new insight into the evolutionary history of the gharial lineage in North Africa. [1][2][3]