Egypt’s desert was once a tropical sea filled with sharks, fossils reveal
Cairo: Fossilised shark teeth discovered in Egypt’s Western Desert have revealed that a landscape now among the driest on Earth was once covered by a warm tropical sea teeming with marine life more than 70 million years ago. Researchers examining phosphate deposits at the Abu Tartur Plateau, between the Kharga and Dakhla oases, recovered 14 isolated teeth belonging to at least five extinct shark…
Researchers have uncovered fossilized shark teeth in Egypt's Western Desert, indicating that the region was once a tropical sea teeming with marine life more than 70 million years ago. The discovery, published in the journal Cretaceous Research, reveals five extinct shark species, including two that are first recorded for Egypt and one that may represent its first known occurrence in Africa.
The ancient ecosystem, located at the Abu Tartur Plateau between the Kharga and Dakhla oases, featured diverse marine life alongside smaller fish and marine reptiles. Researchers believe nutrient-rich waters sustained this environment, which eventually transformed into the current desert landscape.
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