New discovery in the valley of the
whales:
Also known as (
zeugloden valley)
I
just came back from a trip to valley of
the whales, located 60 south of Wadi EL-Rian
in El-Fayoum oasis. This is around 150
km from southwest of
Cairo. The site
today is a Protected area and a natural
Heritage Site added in 2005 by the
UNESCO as world heritage site.
The area is is characterized by its
integrated desert environment,
consisting of different wild animals and
important and various sea fossils.
The area also is characterized by the
existence of movable sand dunes , four
natural sulfuric springs , plant groups
that contain 15 species of desert plants
and about 15 types of wild mammals like
the white deer, the Egyptian deer,
fennec fox ( sand fox ), red fox and
others , and 16 species of reptiles ,
and over 100 species of resident and
migrating birds.
The place we went to, is called valley
of the whales ( WADI EL-HITAN ) also
known for scientists as the Zeuglodon
Valley, have been discovered in 1936, it
is located 35 KM west of the wadi El-Ryian,
right deep into the desert western
desert, is It is an area of fossils;
considered as an open museum, dates back
to 45 million years and contains
petrified primitive whales skeletons,
shark teeth , shells and roots of
Mangroves preserved in soft rocks. Every
where you go here you find petrified sea
shell and corals. You will need a good
4*4 car to reach this amazing place
There we found an expedition from
University of Michigan that was digging
and had discovered a large walking
whale.
The university of
Michigan had done some earlier digging
there in 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991,
and 1993, during which time some 400 archaeocete and sirenian skeletons were
found and mapped.
This time they came
back with professor PHILIP D. GINGERICH
Professor of Paleontology, Professor of
Geological Sciences, Professor of
Biology, Professor of Anthropology,
Director, Museum of Paleontology — The
University of Michigan of a very
experienced geologist. had the pleasure
of meeting him on site, and he was so kind
to let me know what is the new discovery
about, i was told that the new
whale is
around 44 million years old!!
This whale once
had feet and used to
walk on the shore before getting into
the water,
The oldest and most
primitive walking whale had been
uncovered in Pakistan; Pakicetus lived
50 million years ago. but in the valley
of whales, this is the first time we
find this walking whale in any part of
Africa and this time it was found in
this remote barren site of Wadi El-hitan.
The whale is called
Ambulocetus natans, moved
easily between land and sea. Roughly the
size of a walrus, this primitive whale
inhabited coastal environments. These
new fossils also provide insight into
how these animals got around.
