Archaeologists have discovered the bones of a whale that lived in Egypt 41 million years ago, one of the “oldest specimens of its family in Africa”, now extinct, the American University in Cairo (AUC) announced on Thursday, citing AFP.

The whale was named “Tutcetus Rayanensis” after the child pharaoh Tutankhamun, “cetus” meaning whale in Greek, and the Wadi al-Rayan, Fayum region, south of Cairo, where it was discovered.

It is “the smallest basilosaurid whale discovered to date and one of the oldest specimens of the species in Africa,” the AUC said in a statement.

According to Hicham Salam, a member of the research team that found the skull, jaws, bones and vertebra of the 2.5-meter-long animal, the discovery of this fossil is “a decisive step in the evolution of whales on land and at sea.” and weighed 187 kg.

During this stage, whales “developed fish-like features such as a streamlined body, a strong tail with fins, and the last signs of limbs prominent enough to be described as legs that were probably used not for walking but for reproduction,” he clarified. quoted in the press release.

According to UNESCO, the fossil was found in a part of Egypt that was once covered by the sea, which is also home to the Valley of the Whales, which contains “priceless” fossils.

In August 2021, Egyptian archaeologists discovered fossils of a new species of amphibious whale dating back 43 million years in the Fayyum region.

More than three meters long and weighing about 600 kilograms, “Fioumicetus anubis” was presented by Egypt while being “the fiercest and oldest whale in Africa”.

In 2018, a team of scientists discovered the first dinosaur skeleton in Africa, which is more than 75 million years old.