Researchers report the identification of a new extinct crocodile species, Herugavialis cairensis, from fossil remains found in rocks associated with Egypt’s Great Sphinx. The materials are from a limestone formation that later workers carve and shape into the monument.
Sources describe the discovery as involving a skull fossil first found in the 1920s, with missing parts of the nose or snout. Popular Science and Phys.org note that the fossil lacks the tip of its nose or snout, echoing the well-known damage to the Sphinx, which is missing the tip of its nose. Mongabay adds additional context about the animal’s likely environment: it lived roughly 45 million years ago in northern Egypt in warm, shallow marine conditions, where it hunted in the sea.
Across outlets, the main emphasis is on the match between the fossil’s limestone source and the stone used in the Sphinx, and on how the preservation of the fossil overlaps visually with the Sphinx’s missing nose. The timing of the fossil’s initial excavation versus the more recent scientific identification is also shared.
