Egyptian Desert Fossils Reveal 7 Ancient Shark Species, Including 2 First Records for Egypt
Updated
Updated · ScienceAlert · Aug 22
Egyptian Desert Fossils Reveal 7 Ancient Shark Species, Including 2 First Records for Egypt
2 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Aug 22
Summary
At least 7 shark species have now been identified from the Duwi Formation at Abu-Tartur after researchers found 14 additional teeth beyond an earlier two-species haul.
Five of those species are new records for Abu-Tartur, and 2 — Serratolamna cf. serrata and Squalicorax bassanii — were not previously known from Egypt.
Scapanorhynchus cf. raphiodon stood out as potentially the first known African occurrence of the species and possibly its youngest fossil record anywhere.
The tooth mix points to a nutrient-rich Late Cretaceous sea, with upwelling likely supporting multiple ecological niches from nearshore predators to deeper-water sharks.
Researchers said the phosphate bed is time-averaged rather than a single die-off, adding to evidence that productive shark-rich ecosystems once stretched across northern Africa.