Scientists have uncovered an historical shark “graveyard” in the midst of the Egyptian desert.
Fossilized enamel from seven shark species courting again hundreds of thousands of years had been found within the Abu-Tartur Plateau — situated in Egypt’s Western Desert — between 2020 and 2022, providing new perception into the desert’s watery previous. The researchers detailed their discovery in a research revealed Aug. 18 within the journal Cretaceous Research
“This research supplies proof that the realm now occupied by the plateau was as soon as a sea with flourished marine life, with environmental situations appropriate for its improvement and prosperity, together with beneficial temperatures, daylight, and acceptable oxygen ranges,” research first creator Tarek Yassin, a paleontologist at Cairo College in Egypt, instructed Dwell Science in an e mail.
Newest Movies FromDwell Science
Throughout the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years in the past), temperatures on Earth had been usually hotter than they’re at this time, with sea ranges as much as 558 ft (170 meters) larger than they’re now, in response to the Natural History Museum in London. Because of this, shallow seas fashioned in areas that are actually pretty dry, together with the Egyptian desert.
The Abu-Tartur Plateau lies alongside the Duwi Formation, a Late Cretaceous geological rock formation that spans Egypt’s Japanese and Western deserts. Earlier analysis had already uncovered fossils of fish, sea turtles and different marine reptiles on this area, hinting on the thriving ocean ecosystem that when existed there. The rocks are additionally wealthy in phosphorite, a kind of sedimentary rock that usually types from the shells and bones of marine animals.
“We had carried out analysis earlier than our expedition and knew that areas wealthy in phosphate deposits might additionally comprise fossils of vertebrate marine organisms,” Yassin stated, including that discovering the shark fossils was an “thrilling shock.”
Yassin and colleagues had beforehand discovered fossilized enamel from two varieties of mackerel shark, however additional expeditions between 2020 and 2022 uncovered 14 extra fossilized enamel belonging to no less than 5 further shark species. One in every of these species, Scapanorhynchus raphiodon, an historical relative of present-day goblin sharks (Mitsukurina owstoni), had by no means been reported in Africa earlier than. One other two,Serratolamna serrata and Squalicorax bassanii, had by no means been seen in Egypt.
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
“Discovering enamel belonging to seven completely different shark species was notably outstanding, particularly as a result of they had been all found in the identical location, in the midst of a complete plateau,” Yassin stated. “This discovery is greater than merely a big assemblage of shark fossils.”
The existence of so many shark species in the identical space suggests it was as soon as house to a nutrient-rich, advanced ecosystem, with loads of smaller fish to feed these apex predators. Nonetheless, the invention would not essentially imply these sharks coexisted; fairly, their stays might have change into jumbled in in the identical sediment over time, the research authors famous.
The staff plans to proceed their analysis within the Abu-Tartur Plateau and discover the encompassing space. “We consider there’s nonetheless way more to find,” Yassin stated.
Yassin, T., Carrillo-Briceño, J. D., Kindlimann, R., Ibrahim, A., & AbdelGawad, M. Ok. (2026). Egyptian shark graveyard: New Late Cretaceous Lamniform shark Assemblage from Duwi Formation of Abu-Tartur Space, Southwestern desert, Egypt. Cretaceous Analysis, 106476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2026.106476
How a lot of a shark fan are you? Discover out with our shark quiz!
