Video shows 30-million-year-old skull of apex predator that could solve extinction riddle
Video shows 30-million-year-old skull of apex predator that could solve extinction riddle
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Nearly complete skull of apex carnivore found in Egypt
A nearly complete skull of a leopard-sized carnivore was discovered in the Egyptian desert.
In a rare find, a team of scientists in Egypt uncovered a nearly complete skull that offers insight into a not-before-discovered apex predator species that lived 30 million years ago.
Published on Monday in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the results of the desert dig painted the picture of a fearsome, big-cat creature with a strong jaw and sharp teeth that occupied the spot at the top of the food chain during the Oligocene Epoch era. Discovered in Fayum, Egypt, the powerful predator would have lived in a then-tropical rainforest environment.
The newly-discovered species, named Bastetodon syrtos, is part of the Hyaenodonta family, an extinct species of carnivore that evolved long before modern cats, dogs and hyenas but resembled early versions of modern big cats. This lineage once ruled the food chain in the time after dinosaurs went extinct, preying on primates, early hippos, early elephants and hyraxes, but were later wiped out themselves.
In life, the Bastetodon was leopard-sized with a short, cat-like snout, hyena-like teeth and a dog-like body.
A 'dream' discovery
The discovery of the most complete skull ever found belonging to the hyaenodonta subfamily hyainailourinae almost didn't happen, according to paleontologist and lead author Shorouq Al-Ashqar from Mansoura University and the American University in Cairo.
"Just as we were about to conclude our work, a team member spotted something remarkable —a set of large teeth sticking out of the ground," she said in a statement. "His excited shout brought the team together, marking the beginning of an extraordinary discovery: a nearly complete skull of an ancient apex carnivore, a dream for any vertebrate paleontologist.'
The team, called Sallam Lab, made the find while digging in the Fayum Depression, a basin in the desert known as one of the most significant fossil deposits in Africa. They chose to name the newly-found species after the ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet, the cat-headed symbol of protection, pleasure and good health.
New skull may help solve extinction riddle
The discovery also prompted Sallam Lab scientists to re-visit the findings on a separate lion-sized Hyaenodont species discovered more than 120 years ago. The team constructed the genus of Sekhmetop, named after the lion-headed goddess of wrath and war Sekhmet, and found that it, like the Bastetodon, originated in Africa and not Europe as 1904 scientists originally thought.
This finding gives scientists some more insight into what exactly happened to the once-fierce king of the jungle and its kin.
Hyaenodonts lived in Asia, Europe, India and North America - the new study demonstrates that Bastetodon and Sekhmetop likely spread from Africa to these regions in waves. The team theorized that "cataclysmic" changes in global climate and tectonic shifts made way for the distant relatives of modern cats, dogs and hyenas to begin evolving. As the environment and therefore its prey changed, hyaendodonts diminished in diversity and eventually went extinct.
"The discovery of Bastetodon is a significant achievement in understanding the diversity and evolution of hyaenodonts and their global distribution,' Al-Ashqa's statement continued. 'We are eager to continue our research to unravel the intricate relationships between these ancient predators and their environments over time and across continents.'
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