An ancient "shark graveyard" tens of millions of years old was found in the Egyptian desert
Kyiv • UNN
Fourteen fossilized shark teeth from the Cretaceous period were discovered on the Abu Tartur Plateau. Two of the five identified species had not previously been found in Egypt.
Paleontologists discovered 14 fossilized shark teeth on the Abu Tartur Plateau in Egypt that belonged to five species of ancient predators. LRT reports this, citing ScienceAlert, UNN writes.
Details
The discovery was made in an area that was the seabed during the Cretaceous period, approximately 145–66 million years ago. At that time, Earth's climate was much warmer, sea levels were higher, and a significant part of North Africa was underwater.
Scientists had previously found the remains of two shark species in the area. The new studies made it possible to identify five more extinct species, two of which—Serratolamna cf. serrata and Squalicorax bassanii—had not previously been found in Egypt.
What ancient shark teeth revealed
The teeth found differ significantly in shape: some are long and thin, others are broad and serrated, while one has a sharply curved shape. According to the researchers, this may indicate that different shark species occupied separate ecological niches and hunted different prey.
Scientists suggest that the ancient sea in this region was rich in nutrients and could support a large number of marine predators. At the same time, the layer of phosphorus compounds in which the teeth were found does not allow them to state with certainty that all seven shark species known in the area lived there at the same time.