Scientists have discovered beneath the desert sands of Egypt a nearly complete skull of Bastetodon, a 30-million-year-old carnivore that once ruled the ancient land. This leopard-sized carnivore with a terrifying bite hunted early elephants, hippos and primates in Fayoum's dense forests, now an arid wasteland.
A major discovery in the Egyptian desert has led scientists to identify a new species of hyaenodonta. The discovery - a nearly complete skull - is a rare and major breakthrough in understanding prehistoric carnivores.
The newly named Bastetodon is a leopard-like mammal with sharp teeth and powerful jaw muscles that display a powerful bite. As one of the most dominant carnivores of its time, it was likely at the top of the food chain when early primates, the ancestors of modern humans, began to evolve.
Research published today (February 17) in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology details how Bastetodon preyed on primates, early hippopotamus, elephants and hyenas in Egypt's Fayoum's once dense forests - now an arid desert.
Lead author Shorouq Al-Ashqar, a paleontologist from Al-Mansour University and the American University in Cairo, described the moment of discovery: "For several days, the team painstakingly excavated rock formations dating back some 30 million years. Just as we were finishing our work At that time, one of the team members discovered something eye-catching - a row of large teeth protruding from the ground. He screamed with excitement, which marked the beginning of an extraordinary discovery: a nearly complete skull of an ancient top predator, which is the dream of all vertebrate paleontologists. "
Bastetodon belongs to a group of extinct carnivorous mammals known as the hyaenodonts. Hyenas evolved much earlier than modern carnivores such as cats, dogs, and hyenas. These carnivores with hyena-like teeth hunted in African ecosystems after the dinosaurs went extinct.
The team named the specimen "SallamLab" after the ancient Egyptian cat-headed goddess Bastet, who symbolizes protection, happiness and health. The name is a nod to the area where the specimen was found, an area famous for fossils and ancient Egyptian artifacts. The name also pays tribute to the fearsome leopard-like carnivore's short, cat-like snout and teeth ("-odon" means "teeth").
Its skull was unearthed during a Salam Laboratory expedition to the Fayoum Depression, where excavations revealed an important window into the approximately 15 million years of evolution of African mammals. This time span not only captures the transition from Eocene global warming to Oligocene global cooling, but also reveals how these climate shifts played a crucial role in shaping the ecosystems we still see today.
In addition to the newly discovered paleontology, the discovery of Bastetodon also led the team to re-evaluate a group of lion-sized hyaenodonts discovered in the Fayoum rocks more than 120 years ago.
In their paper, the team also created the genus Sekhmetops to describe the centuries-old material and honor Sekhmet ("-ops" means "face"), the lion-headed goddess of wrath and war in ancient Egyptian mythology. In 1904, Sekhmetops was included in the European hyaenodont group. The research team demonstrated that both Bastetodon and Sekhmetops belong to a group of dinosaurs that actually originated in Africa. In ancient Egypt, Bastet was often associated with Sekhmet, linking the two genera scientifically and symbolically.
The study shows that close relatives of Bastetodon and Sekhmetops traveled from Africa and spread multiple times, eventually reaching Asia, Europe, India and North America. Eighteen million years ago, some of these hyaenodont relatives were among the largest mammals on Earth.
However, dramatic changes in global climate and changes in African tectonic structures gave rise to the continent's close relatives of modern cats, dogs and hyenas. As the environment and prey changed, the diversity of specialized carnivorous hyaenodonts gradually decreased and eventually became extinct, leaving our primate relatives to face new adversaries.
"The discovery of Bastetodon is a major achievement in understanding the diversity and evolution of hyaenodonts and their global distribution," Shorouq added. "We are eager to continue our research to uncover the intricate relationships between these ancient predators and their environments over time and across continents."
Finally, co-author Dr. Matt Borth, Curator of Fossils at the Lemur Center Museum of Natural History at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, said: "The Fayoum is one of the most important fossil areas in Africa. Without the Fayoum, we would know very little about the origins of African ecosystems and the evolution of African mammals such as elephants, primates, and hyaenodonts. Paleontologists have been working at the Fayoum for more than a century, but the Salam Laboratory shows that there is much more to discover in this remarkable region."
Compiled from /ScitechDaily